The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

SOHR: Al-Bukamal, Syria… Iran’s trucks are under attack

The Iranian militias that control the far east of Syria have mobilized their members after Two drone attacks The first targeted, on Sunday evening, trucks that entered Syrian territory from Iraq, amid speculation that they were carrying weapons and ammunition, and the second targeted a car belonging to a leader in groups close to Iran.

Local news networks and media activists reported that unidentified drones were targeted on Sunday evening A convoy of refrigerated trucks It was transporting weapons to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard militia, near the border city of Al-Bukamal with Iraq in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

The local “Nahr Media” network reported that the targeted trucks were gathering at the “Al-Ostoura Roundabout” in the town of Al-Hari in the countryside of Al-Bukamal, in the far east of Syria. And two of his companions, while they were inspecting the site of the air strike that took place on Sunday evening. The network indicated that the Iranian militias evacuated their headquarters in the city of Al-Bukamal and the village of Al-Suwayya after the killing of the leader, in anticipation of other attacks.

Iranian militias evacuated their headquarters in the city of Al-Bukamal and the village of Al-Suwayya, in anticipation of further attacks

In the context, the local “Euphrates Post” network stated that the trucks, which were targeted on Sunday evening, entered the Syrian territory through the illegal railway crossing, which is controlled by the Iraqi “Hezbollah Brigades”, noting that the Iranian militias use this crossing in smuggling of weapons and drugs between the two countries. Syria and Iraq.

Weapons trucks?

As for the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, it stated that the death toll as a result of the two attacks reached 10, including a commander. Three people, including a commander in a pro-Tehran fighting group, were killed as a result of Monday’s strikes, after seven truck drivers and their escorts, of non-Syrian nationalities, were killed as a result of targeting trucks on Sunday night in the Al-Hari area. The trucks were transporting Iranian weapons, according to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

And the Observatory indicated that this month witnessed the entry of refrigerators intended for transporting vegetables carrying missiles to the Syrian lands across the Syrian-Iraqi border near the city of Al-Bukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

He pointed out that refrigerated trucks arrived at the security square in Al-Mayadin in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor on the twenty-fourth of this month, and were unloaded in warehouses belonging to the Afghan “Fatemiyoun” militia in the area there, suggesting that advanced systems and weapons would reach the Iranian militias.

In Iraq, the agency “Agence France Presse” quoted an official from the border authorities, who did not name him, that “the trucks that were bombed inside Syria are Iraqi, but they do not carry any Iraqi goods,” given that his country does not export products to any Arab country, and he said that “the trucks carry goods.” Iranian trucks towards Syria, and they crossed through unofficial crossings,” suggesting that Iraqi trucks would be used instead of Iranian ones to avoid being bombed.

For his part, the media activist Abu Omar al-Bukamali, who is in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, explained, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that “there is a full alert of the Iranian militias in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor,” and he indicated that “there is a secret from the Iranian militias about what happened in the evening.” Sunday from strikes,” adding: “There are dead and injured among the militiamen as a result of the strikes, but there is no accurate information about the numbers or the nature of the targets that were targeted by the air force.”

For more than five years now Militias of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard In the countryside of Deir Ezzor, a target of unknown aircraft believed to be either Israeli or affiliated with the international coalition led by the United States.

Disturbing the Iranian presence in Syria

The director of the “Al Sharq News” center, Firas Allawi, believes, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that the trucks that were targeted by unknown aircraft on Sunday evening “carry spare parts for drones and missiles,” adding: “This matter is worrisome to the international coalition led by the United States of America, so They were destroyed,” and he pointed out that the international coalition “will not allow the presence of Iranian drone launchers in Syria, so it bombs from time to time any target that it believes poses a threat from Syria.”

Allawi: The international coalition will not allow the presence of Iranian drone launchers in Syria

Allawi, who is from Deir Ezzor, said, “These strikes come in a context of anxiety The Iranian military presence in eastern Deir Ezzor And in Syria in general,” expressing his belief that Israel and the international coalition “do not want to completely eliminate the Iranian presence in Syria, otherwise they would have followed another military strategy and were not satisfied with limited local strikes.”

The Al-Bukamal region on the Syrian-Iraqi border has been considered an area of ​​complete Iranian influence since late 2017, as it is controlled by several Iranian militias, including: the “Fatemiyoun Brigade”, which includes mercenaries from Afghanistan, the “Zeinabiyoun Brigade”, which includes mercenaries from Pakistan, and the “Haydarion”. “, and “Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas”, and the Iraqi “Hezbollah”, in addition to militias affiliated with the Iraqi “Popular Mobilization”, including the “Nujaba” movement.

Iran places its hand on the Al-Bukamal border crossing linking Syria and Iraq, which opened in late 2019, more than 7 years after it was closed.

The Iranian military presence is not limited to the Al-Bukamal region, but rather extends to the city of Al-Mayadeen, east of Deir ez-Zor, which includes command and control headquarters and training camps, according to local sources.

The importance of Deir ez-Zor governorate, the second largest Syrian governorate in terms of area (more than 30,000 square kilometers), stems from the fact that it is the most important stop in the land corridor that extends from Tehran, through Iraq and Syria, to the shores of the Mediterranean in Lebanon. Iranian militias fully control the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, extending from Al-Mayadeen to Al-Bukamal, for a distance of more than 50 kilometers.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has set up one of its largest bases in Syria, the “Imam Ali” base in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, which has been bombed more than once by the international coalition warplanes over the past years. The Iranians also established many local militias to repel the repeated attacks of the “ISIS” organization on the area they control in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, where they take advantage of the difficult living conditions to enlist the youth of the region within these militias led by people loyal to Iran, most notably Nawaf al-Bashir, leader of the “Black Tribes” militia.

 

Source:  World Today News