At least 6 dead in airstrikes on Iranian missile factories in Syria

At least six Iranian-aligned combatants were killed and more injured in a series of airstrikes on militia bases in Syria overnight, according to a report by an observer group.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday morning that airstrikes attributed to Israel in northwestern Syria struck missile assembly facilities maintained by pro-Iranian forces.

Six fighters were killed in the strikes, the SOHR reported, with the death toll expected to rise to the number of militia members seriously injured in the missile strikes.

All six of the dead were non-Syrian nationals, though it is unclear whether they were Iranian, Lebanese, or Iraqi.

The missile strikes took place at around midnight from late Thursday into early Friday morning, and struck facilities used to assemble short and medium-range missiles in the Masyaf district of northwest Syria.

Israel has refused to comment on the airstrike.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense said that Israeli missiles had been launched from northern Lebanon toward the Masyaf area.

It also claimed that the “air defense systems have successfully intercepted the attack and shot down most of the missiles.”