Iraqi pro-Iranian fighter killed in attack on eastern Syria

“An unidentified airstrike killed one Iraqi member of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and wounded two others, according to preliminary reports,” the observatory said, referring to a loose alliance of groups supported by Iran.

The UK-based observer, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said an explosion was heard “in the area around Albukamal… a few kilometres from the Syrian-Iraqi border” at the same time as the attack.

Iraq’s Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades announced the death of a fighter in an attack on Friday “that targeted his vehicle during a reconnaissance patrol on the Iraqi-Syrian border,” and accused the United States of being behind the attack.

Responsibility for the attack was not immediately claimed, but a spokesman for the US-led military coalition formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group told AFP that “neither the coalition nor US forces carried out night attacks in Deir Ezzor.”

The observatory said drones flew over the area several hours before the attack.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks, mainly against pro-Iranian groups, with little public comment on the attacks.

At the end of March, 16 fighters linked to Tehran were killed in attacks on eastern Syria, including an Iranian military adviser.

A civilian working for the World Health Organization was also killed in the attacks.

Iran has long been an important ally of the Syrian government and provides the country with military advisers.

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