An Iranian proxy militias’ base, in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, was hit by airstrikes. The attack killed at least 12 militias, who were reportedly from Iraq and Afghanistan. This attack comes just a few days after an Iranian base in Misyaf was similarly wracked by airstrikes.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), reported that unmanned aircraft (drones) launched eight air-to-surface missiles.
The Mezeileh base, just outside of Deir Ezzor, was just reinforced by Iranian-backed Fatemiyoun militia who brought in nearly 30 vehicles carrying troops and military and logistical equipment, coming from the town of Al-Herri on the border with Iraq. Both vehicles and munitions were destroyed in the attack.
The Observatory didn’t specify the airstrike’s perpetrator, but Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the SOHR, told the media that Israel was likely responsible for the latest airstrike on the Iranian militias.
Surprisingly, the Syrian government has made no comment on the airstrike through its government-run media news site SANA. Normally, they falsely or misleadingly claim credit for destroying most of the incoming missiles.
In the attack just a few days ago, airstrikes reportedly from Israeli aircraft overflying Lebanese airspace blasted Iranian-led militia in Misyaf. They hit four defense factories belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in an area where missiles are manufactured. The airstrikes also destroyed weapons depots and targeted sites where both Syrian and Iranian troops are based. At least nine people were killed in that strike.
The Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), located in Misyaf, has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the past. The SSRC site in Misyaf was used to produce chemical weapons. The Israelis have also targeted an SSRC chemical weapons site in Aleppo.
Israel intelligence officials have repeatedly stated that Iranian proxies with help from Tehran are manufacturing precision-guided missiles. These missiles are seen by Israel as a strategic threat to its national security. Additionally, the Israelis have often stated that they will not accept any Iranian bases close to their borders. They have admitted to carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against Iranian troops and Syrian air defense troops who fire on their aircraft. But they are suspected of conducting many more airstrikes that the ones they have acknowledged, according to SOHR.
As in keeping with their usual custom, they neither confirmed or denied responsibility for this latest airstrike.
The increased frequency of the Israeli airstrikes may be a result of the movement of Iranian troops and equipment into the area. Yet, some intelligence analysts claim that the Israeli Air Force was taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic by stepping up the tempo of its airstrikes while the world’s attention was elsewhere.
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