BEIRUT: A war monitoring body on Monday said that 16 members from groups’ allied with Iran, were killed in an Israeli strike near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. State media also reported the ‘deadly Israeli attack’.

“The death toll of the Israeli strike on a factory in Hayyan, in the western Aleppo province has risen to 16 pro-Iran group members, including Syrian and foreigner fighters” stated the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, had initially reported 12 dead. It said pro-Iranian groups composed of local and foreign fighters have considerable influence in government-controlled ‘Hayyan’.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on its northern neighbor, since the outbreak of civil war in Syria. They have mainly targeted army positions and Iran-backed fighters including the Hezbollah group.

A Syrian defence ministry statement read “after midnight, the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the southeast of Aleppo, targeting some positions” near the city. It reported “martyrs” and “some material damage”.

While Israel ‘rarely’ comments on individual strikes in Syria, it has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.

On Wednesday, according to the Observatory, Israeli strikes in western and central Syria killed a girl and six fighters working with Hezbollah (including three Syrians).

Hezbollah (allied with Hamas) has long fought in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the country’s civil war.

In March, the Observatory had said that Israeli air strikes near Aleppo’s airport had killed 52 people. The deceased included 38 government soldiers, seven Hezbollah members and seven Syrian pro-Iran fighters.

“During last night’s attack by the Zionist regime on Aleppo, Saeed Abyar, one of the IRGC advisers in Syria, was martyred” Iran’s Tasnim news agency stated, whilst referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The conflict plaguing Syria has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more, since it erupted in 2011 after Damascus cracked down on anti-government protests.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024