Bases were reportedly restocked and refortified three days ago; dead said to have been Iraqi and Afghan nationals; area targeted has been hit by Israel in the past.
Twelve people were killed overnight Saturday in drone airstrikes targeting pro-Iranian militia in the Deir Ezzor region in eastern Syria, according to a Syrian watchdog group.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, the Iranian positions were hit with eight airstrikes just before midnight.
It said the sites had been refortified and restocked three days earlier, and munitions and vehicles were destroyed in the strike.
The 12 killed were said to be Afghan and Iraqi members of pro-Iranian militia.
The Observatory did not identify the aircraft responsible, but its head, Rami Abdul Rahman, told AFP that Israel was likely responsible.
Iranian bases in Deir Ezzor have been targeted in the past in strikes attributed to Israel, which has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011, targeting government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah.
The airstrikes came after Israeli strikes targeted a weapons facility in the area of Masyaf in northern Syria on Thursday night, killing nine people and causing massive damage, according to reports from Syria. According to the Syrian state media outlet SANA, the country’s air defenses were activated by the attack.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four of those killed Thursday night were Syrian nationals and the other five were of unknown nationality. Video footage from Syria, shared on social media, showed Syrian anti-aircraft missiles being fired into the sky, as well as large fires on the ground apparently caused by the airstrikes.
Israel, as a rule, does not comment on specific airstrikes, but does generally acknowledge carrying out attacks inside Syria against Iranian forces and Iranian proxy militias.
Israel has repeatedly warned that Iran and its proxies, notably the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group, are developing precision-guided missiles, which Israel sees as one of the major strategic threats facing it.
The reported Israeli attack on Thursday night came days after an airstrike in eastern Syria that was attributed to Israel and was said to have killed five non-Syrian fighters backed by Iran. The strike targeted three military vehicles belonging to Iran-backed paramilitary fighters near the Iraqi border, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said that “Israel was likely responsible.”
(Times of Israel).
