The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Amid withdrawals by Iranian-backed militiamen from key positions | Coalition fighter jets and helicopters hover over Al-Mayadeen

SOHR activists in areas dominated by Iranian-backed militias in Deir Ezzor province have reported that Iranian-backed militias are still on high alert since the airstrikes which targeted their positions in Al-Bokamal, Al-Mayadeen and Deir Ezzor cities in the early hours of Friday morning. Meanwhile, Iranian-backed militias have withdrawn from major positions in the targeted areas to more fortified positions in Al-Bokamal and Al-Mayadeen countryside, fearing renewed airstrikes, especially with the frequent flights by Coalition fighter jets and helicopters.

 

On the other hand, Iranian-backed militias fired a rocket, targeting a position in Al-Omar oil field, but the rocket missed its goal and hit a civilian house in Theban town in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, which caused material damage.

 

It is worth noting that an explosion was documented yesterday in the US military base “Kharab Al-Jir/Rumaylan” in Al-Hasakah countryside, 12 kilometres away from the Syria-Iraq border. Meanwhile, US authorities have announced the death of a US contractor and injury of US soldiers in an attack by Iranian-backed militias on a base of the International Coalition near Al-Hasakah at midnight.

 

SOHR sources have just reported that the airstrikes, which were executed by US fighter jets and unidentified aircraft on positions of Iranian-backed militias in Deir Ezzor in the early hours of Friday, targeted positions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Al-Bokamal desert in eastern Deir Ezzor, another positions on the southern outskirts of Al-Mayadeen city and an ammunition warehouse in the “grain centre” and “rural development centre” opposite the “Officers Residences” in Harabesh neighbourhood in Deir Ezzor city.

 

The airstrikes left eight Iranian-backed militiamen dead: six in the warehouse in Harabesh and two in the position on the outskirts of Al-Mayadeen. The number of fatalities is expected to rise, as the strikes left several militiamen injured, some seriously, amid unconfirmed reports of more fatalities. The strikes also caused heavy material losses.