Israeli warplanes carried out intense air strikes in eastern Syria on Wednesday morning, apparently targeting Iran-backed fighter gun positions and deposits. Dozens of fighters were killed or wounded, according to an opposition war monitor.
Syrian state news agency SANA said the attacks hit areas close to the cities of Deir el-Zour, Mayadeen and Boukamal along the border with Iraq. He gave no further details.
An opposition war monitor reported at least 18 attacks on Deir el-Zour, as well as along the border with Iraq, saying that several arms depots had been hit. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, said 23 people were killed, including seven Syrians, and the rest were Iranian-backed fighters. It said 28 were wounded.
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Syrian state news agency SANA said the attacks hit areas close to the cities of Deir el-Zour, Mayadeen and Boukamal along the border with Iraq
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A senior US intelligence official with knowledge of the attack told the Associated Press that the air strikes were carried out with intelligence provided by the United States and targeted a series of warehouses in Syria that were being used as part of the pipeline to store and prepare the Iranian weapons.
The official said the deposits also served as a pipeline for components that support the Iranian nuclear program.
“They burned Iranian positions in Deir el-Zour,” said Omar Abu Laila, a European activist from the province of Deir el-Zour, in eastern Syria, who runs a collective of activists reporting on the border area.
Israel has launched hundreds of attacks against Iranian-linked military targets in Syria over the years, but it rarely recognizes or discusses such operations.
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The attacks came amid growing tensions in the region and amid concerns that Iran could carry out attacks to avenge the death of one of its top commanders, General Qassem Soleimani last year.
Israel sees Iran’s entrenchment on its northern border as a red line, and has repeatedly attacked Iran-related facilities and arms trains destined for Hezbollah.
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The American official, who requested anonymity to speak on sensitive national security issues, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Tuesday’s air raid with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Israel’s spy agency, at the Café. Milano in Washington on Monday.