14 pro-Iran militia fighters killed in airstrikes in Syria, says war monitor

At least 14 pro-Iran militia fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan were killed on Sunday in airstrikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said that strikes were likely carried out by Israeli warplanes in Deir Ezzor province on the border with Iraq, on Saturday night. 

However, the Israeli army said it does not comment on foreign reports. 

The war monitor said the attacks, more than 10 that hit positions of Iran-backed militias outside the border town of Albu Kamal, killed eight Iraqis and six Afghan fighters. The Observatory added that it also destroyed two bases as well as several military vehicles. 

Many Iran-backed fighters are deployed in a stretch of territory between the Syrian towns of Albu Kamal and Mayadeen, which are former strongholds of the Islamic State group. 

Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011 and Iran, along with Russia, has been a key backer of the Damascus regime in its nine-year-long civil war. Israel, without mostly acknowledging, has targeted Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces as well as government troops. 

Syria’s civil war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions more since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.