ByTZVI JOFFRE

Unidentified aircraft targeted sites belonging to pro-Iranian militias near Al-Bukamal in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria on Saturday night, according to local news source Deir EzZor 24 and Syrian news source Step News Agency.

Deir EzZor 24 reported that over 15 airstrikes were reported and believed to be carried out by Israel, adding that the target may have been the Imam Ali base in the area controlled by Iran. The base includes tunnels, buildings and warehouses built over the past two years at the site located near a strategic border crossing between Syria and Iraq.
A number of vehicles were targeted in the strikes, according to Step News Agency.
 
On Friday, Iranian-made missiles were reportedly transported to the area through the Syrian-Iraqi border crossing.

No information was available on damages or injuries as of Sunday morning.

Earlier this month, airstrikes, allegedly carried out by Israel, targeted dozens of sites in the Deir al-Zor region of eastern Syria and in Albukamal near the Syria-Iraq border.

The strikes were aimed at dozens of warehouses and sites belonging to pro-Iranian militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) throughout the area, according to Deir EzZor 24.

While Syrian state media and Iranian media have refrained from reporting on casualties, large numbers of ambulances were reported in the area soon after the strike. Independent reports on the number of casualties ranged between 25 and 50.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen news reported that one person was killed and 14 others were wounded in the strikes, adding that the strikes were carried out by Israeli aircraft using intelligence from the US military.

Sites belonging to Iranian forces and Iranian-backed militias in the Deir al-Zor area have been hit repeatedly by airstrikes, often by “unidentified aircraft,” in recent years.

If the strikes were in fact, carried out by Israel, this would mark the fourth alleged Israeli airstrike reported in Syria this month. The IDF rarely confirms reports on strikes in Syria.