Israeli warplanes carried out intense airstrikes on eastern Syria early Wednesday, apparently targeting positions and arms depots of Iran-backed forces. Dozens of fighters were killed or wounded, according to an opposition war monitor.
A senior U.S. intelligence official with knowledge of the attack told The Associated Press that the airstrikes were carried out with intelligence provided by the United States — a rare incidence of publicized co-operation between the two countries over choosing targets in Syria. The official said the strikes targeted a series of warehouses in Syria that were being used in a pipeline to store and stage Iranian weapons.
The U.S. official, who requested anonymity to speak about sensitive national security matters, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Tuesday’s airstrike with Yossi Cohen, chief of Israel’s spy agency Mossad, at a public meeting in popular Washington restaurant Café Milano on Monday.
The official said the warehouses also served as a pipeline for components that support Iran’s nuclear program.
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The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) said the Israeli Air Force of carrying out the attack, accusing them of providing the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) terrorist organization with an air force to help them against the government.
ReplyDeleteAccording to reports from Deir Ezzor, the Israeli warplanes attacked the Deir Ezzor Governorate from the Jordanian-Iraqi border, resulting in several explosions inside Deir Ezzor city and the border area around the city of Albukamal.
ReplyDeleteIsrael has reportedly carried out a wave of air strikes on Iran-backed militia positions in Syria overnight, in the fourth such attack in two weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe Syrian state news agency Sana said Israeli aircraft attacked the eastern Deir al-Zour and Albu Kamal regions.
It did not mention any casualties, but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 Syrian soldiers and 43 allied militiamen were killed.
Israel has not commented, but it often attacks Iran-linked targets in Syria.
Iran is believed to have deployed hundreds of troops to Syria and to have armed, trained and financed thousands of Shia Muslim militiamen - from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen - to support forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the nine-year Syrian civil war.
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