Air attacks hit pro-Iran convoy near Iraqi border in Syria
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Alaina
- . November 10, 2022
- . Update: November 11, 2022 12:55 am
According to a Syrian war monitor, Iranian state television, and Iraqi paramilitary personnel, airstrikes have hit eastern Syria near the border with Iraq, killing and wounding militants supported by Iran.
According to two Iraqi paramilitary officers, although the exact number of casualties has not been established, some of those slain in the strike late on Tuesday were Iranian nationals. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, most of those murdered in the raids—at least 14 people—were fighters.
In Syria’s eastern province of Deir Az Zor, the attacks targeted a convoy of “fuel tankers and vehicles filled with weaponry” for the fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory. Although the motive for the raid is yet unknown, the US military has carried out similar attacks in the past.
However, the US military has so far denied any involvement. According to Army Major Rachael L. Jeffcoat, “neither US forces nor members of the US-led coalition conducted an airstrike in al-Qaim, Iraq, near the Syrian border.”
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22 tanker trucks were traveling in a convoy from Iran to Lebanon, according to a border guard official in Iraq. Ten trucks were hit after crossing into Syrian territory at the Al-Qaim – Abu Kamal border crossing, of which four were “totally burned”.
Three airstrikes against militias supported by Iran were reported by the activist collective Deir Ezzor 24 in the Syrian border town of Abu Kamal and surrounding areas. On casualties, there was no immediate information.
Members of Iraqi paramilitary organizations operating in the region earlier claimed that an airstrike on a convoy transporting fuel into Syria from Iraq late on Tuesday killed at least 10 persons.
Without providing any information regarding casualties, Iranian state news Press TV stated the convoy was transporting Iranian oil to Lebanon via Syria. It added that the attack happened after eight of the trucks had entered Syria and that it had been carried out by US drones and helicopters.
