"16 IRGC and Hezbollah forces killed in Israeli airstrike on Syria"
A group monitoring developments in Syria announced on Wednesday, January 14, that at least 16 Syrian military forces and Iranian-backed militias were killed in a possible Israeli airstrike on targets in the Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria.
The official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported on Wednesday morning that Israeli warplanes targeted areas in Deir Ezzor and Albukamal in eastern Syria and near the Iraqi border.
According to the report, military officials are assessing the damage and casualties from the attack.
In this context, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has also said that 16 people were killed in these attacks.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added that Israeli warplanes targeted two bases in the city of Deir Ezzor and bases in Albukamal in 18 airstrikes.
According to the report, five Syrian soldiers and 11 others, including members of the Revolutionary Guards, Iraqi Hezbollah, and the Fatemiyoun Brigade, were killed in these attacks.
The Fatemiyoun Division is composed of Afghan Shiites who were sent to Syria by the Revolutionary Guard during the Syrian civil war.
Independent sources have not yet confirmed or denied the Human Rights Watch report.
The Israeli army has not responded to the report of an airstrike on Iranian-backed militia positions in eastern Syria until the publication of this news.
Last Wednesday, Israel targeted positions of Iranian-backed militias in the village of Al-Dur in the countryside of As-Suwayda, south of Damascus.
Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syrian territory, aiming to weaken Iranian and Hezbollah forces near Israel's borders.
Israel considers the presence and influence of Iran and Tehran's allies in Syria to be "dangerous" to its security, and officials in the country say that its airstrikes on Syria have reduced Iran's movements and presence in the region.
Source: Radio Farda
