BEIRUT: Presumed Israeli air strikes on eastern Syria killed 16 Iran-backed fighters on Thursday, a war monitor said, hours after Damascus said it intercepted Israeli missiles fired at a central air base.

Those killed were “Iraqi paramilitary fighters loyal to Iran, seven of whom were killed outside the city of Mayadeen”, Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

The other nine were killed in strikes south of the city of Albu Kamal, on the Iraqi border further east.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2020

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