At least 21 Iranian backed radical Islamic terrorists were killed during air-raids on military bases and storehouses on Monday morning, Sept. 9. The raids occurred in eastern Syria close to the Iraq border, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The raids targeted several bases, arms depots, and vehicles near the city of Al Bukamal in the Deir ez-Zor region. The military bases codenamed “Imam Ali,” house several militias under the umbrella of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps including Iraqi based Hezbollah, according to The Post.
According to a Fox News report of Sept. 3 , Iran is building an extensive complex of military bases in eastern Syria that are completed by the Iranian Al Quds forces. It is believed the compounds house thousands of troops and precision missiles. Fox News based its findings on satellite images provided by a private Israeli intelligence firm.
Syria war: 'Air strikes' hit Iran-backed forces near Iraq border https://t.co/OS4VDtbmSi
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 9, 2019
Officially no country has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but it is widely assumed that Israel is responsible for the attacks. Further reinforcement came from recent statements Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu that strongly implied it was Israel that conducted the strikes.
The strikes are part of a military campaign to thwart Iranian efforts to build a bridge across the desert over Iraqi and Syrian owned lands. The bridge could transport heavy armory and troops to Lebanon. Lebanon could then become a base for shelling Israeli territory.
The attacks are part of a sequence of military strikes, presumably by Israel, on Iran-backed targets in Syrian territory, the Epoch Times reported in cooperation with Associated Press on August 23.
Israel Bombs Iran-Backed Militia Depot in Iraq, US Officials Confirm
Israel was responsible for the bombing of an Iranian weapons depot in Iraq in August, U.S. officials have confirmed, an attack that would mark a significant escalation in Israel’s long campaign against Iranian military entrenchment in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave strong hints that his country is behind recent airstrikes that have hit bases and a munitions depot belonging to Iran-backed paramilitary forces operating in Iraq.
Two U.S. officials said Israel carried out an attack on an Iranian weapons depot in July that killed two Iranian military commanders. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
The Jul. 19 attack hit a militia base in Amirli, in Iraq’s northern Salaheddin province, causing a massive explosion and fire. A senior official with the Shiite militias at the time told The Associated Press that the base housed advisers from Iran and Lebanon—a reference to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group. He said the attack targeted the headquarters of the advisers and a weapons depot.
On Aug. 12, another massive explosion at the al-Saqr military base near Baghdad shook the capital, killing one civilian and wounding 28 others. The base housed a weapons depot for the Iraqi federal police and the PMF. On Aug. 23, more explosions rocked a munitions depot north of Baghdad.
Associated Press contributed to this report
