Report: 8 dead in Israeli airstrikes on Iraq-Syria border

Observer group claims eight pro-Iranian fighters killed in Israeli bombings in Syria near Iraqi border. Death toll expected to rise.

Airstrikes attributed to Israel killed eight in eastern Syria overnight, a London-based observer group claimed Friday morning.

According to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, airstrikes reportedly carried out overnight by the Israeli Air Force killed eight pro-Iranian fighters near the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television network, which is aligned with the Hezbollah terrorist organization, reported Thursday night the strikes were carried out by Israel on a weapons depot on the Iraq-Syria border, in the Al Bukamal area.

All eight of the fighters killed in the airstrikes were foreign nationals, the SOHR report claimed, with no Syrian causalities listed.

The report claimed that the target was a site operated by the Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization of mostly pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias in Iraq.

“At least eight people, non-Syrian nationals, were killed in an airstrike,” said the SOHR.

“The target is linked to the pro-Iranian Hashed al-Shaabi militias in the Al Bukamal region on the Syrian-Iraqi border.”

The report added that the death toll is “likely to rise due to the large number of injured, some of whom are in serious condition.”

Two weeks ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five people were killed in a missile strike on Iranian-backed militias in Al Bukamal.

Three days earlier, at least three fighters were killed in an air strike near the Syrian capital of Damascus which was attributed to Israel.

The area near Al Bukamal has been attacked several times in recent months. Most of the attacks have been attributed to Israel, which does not comment on the reports.