5 pro-Iranian persons killed in strike on Syria-Iraq border

Last Update: 2019-12-08 00:00:00- Source: Baghdad Post

At least five men belonging to pro-Iranian militias were killed in a pre-dawn strike on Sunday in Iraq along the border with Syria, according to Syrian rights group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeting the Tehran-backed groups, took place near the city of Abu Kamal in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq.

The presence of Iranian-backed forces has made the area a target for aerial attack, often attributed to Israel.

Israeli military officially confirmed last month it had targeted the area in a series of wide-scale airstrikes that left at least 23 people, believed to be Iranians, dead.

The army said that during the November 20 raid, its fighter jets hit multiple targets belonging to Iran's elite Quds force, including surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, the Israeli military said a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were also destroyed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the need to counter the Iranian aggression in the Middle East just hours before the reports about the lastest strike surfaced.