Separate aerial attacks | Unidentified and US aircraft kill 30 Iranian-backed militias in Deir Ezzor since early 2023
As a part of the ongoing skirmishes between US and Iran in Syrian territory, US and unidentified aircraft continues their attacks on positions of Iranian-backed militias, attempting to curb Iranian expansion across Syria, specifically in Deir Ezzor. It is worth noting that Iranian-backed militias dominate west Euphrates region, while the US-led International Coalition is stationed in several positions on the river’s opposite bank.
Since early 2023, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented six attacks by unidentified and US aircraft on positions of Iranian-backed militias in Deir Ezzor province. SOHR would like to point out that the aircraft sometimes targeted more than one position in every single round.
Those airstrikes left 30 Iranian-backed Syrian and non-Syrian militiamen dead and tens others injured, as well as the destroying of weapons and ammunitions warehouses and vehicles.
Further details can be summarised as follows:
- January 29: Seven people of non-Syrian nationalities, truck drivers and their escorts, were killed in strikes by unidentified aircraft on a convoy of refrigerated trucks affiliated to Iranian-backed militias in Al-Herri area in Al-Bokamal. According to SOHR sources, six refrigerated trucks were targeted shortly after crossing into Syria from Iraq.
- January 30: An Iranian-backed commander and his two escorts, all of non-Syrian nationalities, were killed in renewed attacks by unidentified drones. According to SOHR sources, the drones attacked the commander’s four-wheel drive vehicles (4×4), while he was checking the site of the attack which took place a day earlier on Al-Ostorah square in Al-Herri town in Al-Bokamal countryside.
- January 30: Unidentified reconnaissance drones executed a third round of attacks in 24 hours, targeting an oil truck carrying weapons and ammunition in Al-Suway’a town in Al-Bokamal countryside in eastern Deir Ezzor. The attack resulted in the explosion of the truck and left one person dead.
- March 24: US fighter jets executed two rounds of airstrikes, targeting weapons and ammunitions warehouses in the “grain centre” and “rural development centre” opposite the “Officers Residences” in Harabesh neighbourhood in Deir Ezzor city and other positions in Al-Bokamal desert and on the southern outskirts of Al-Mayadeen city, killing 19 combatants: 11 Iranian-backed Syrian militiamen, five Iranian-backed non-Syrian militiamen and three regime soldiers.
On the other hand, Iranian-backed militias reacted to those airstrikes by bombarding positions in Koniko gas field and Al-Omar oil field in Deir Ezzor countryside. In addition, a drone affiliated to Iranian-backed militias flown from Iraqi territory attacked the Coalition’s base of Kharab Al-Jir in Al-Hasakah countryside on Thursday, killing a US retired man and injuring two US soldiers.
Meanwhile, Iranian-backed militias concern about security breaches in their positions, military headquarters and weapons warehouses in that region.
Moreover, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanese Hezbollah carried out a campaign of arrests among Syrian fighters backed by Iranian-backed militias in Al-Bokamal and Al-Mayadeen cities in areas held by Iranian-backed militias and regime forces in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, arresting at least 11 Syrian militiamen.
According to the sources, the reason for the arrests is for interrogation of the fighters on charges of communicating with the “International Coalition” and “Israel,” for the distrust by the Iranian -backed militia and the Lebanese “Hezbollah” of Syrian fighters, and for their suspicion of providing the “International Coalition” with coordinates and information on militia movements and positions.