Syria: at least sixteen members of pro-Iranian groups killed in an Israeli raid near Aleppo, according to an NGO
At least sixteen members of pro-Iranian groups were killed overnight from Sunday to Monday in an Israeli bombing targeting a factory in Hayyan, a town near Aleppo, in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. human rights (OSDH).
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting the army of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and the pro-Iranian groups based there and supporting it.
The nighttime strikes targeted a factory in which pro-Iranian groups are based, “causing strong explosions”according to the OSDH. “Sixteen people, Syrians and foreigners, were killed”, added the NGO, without specifying whether all the victims were combatants. The NGO gave an initial assessment of twelve deaths during the night.
In a statement, the Syrian defense ministry said that” after midnight (…) the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the southeast of Aleppo, targeting some positions near Aleppo”then added: “The aggression caused several martyrs and material damage. »
According to OSDH, based in the United Kingdom but with a vast network of sources in the country at war, rescuers and firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the fires that had broken out and transport the injured. The NGO added that Hayyan is “controlled by pro-Iranian groups composed of Syrians and foreigners”.
Israeli attacks have intensified since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in October. On Wednesday evening, two Israeli strikes targeted a coastal town and central Syria, killing a little girl, according to official Syrian media, and three Syrian fighters from Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus, according to the OSDH.
And by the end of March, at least fifty-two Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters had been killed in Israeli strikes in Aleppo, according to the OSDH; This is the heaviest toll for the Syrian army in these raids in Syria since the beginning of October.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes but have repeatedly said they would not allow its archenemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.