Suspected coalition planes strike Iranian militias in eastern Syria

Warplanes suspected to be from the US-led anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition on Friday targeted positions belonging to pro-Iranian militias in eastern Syria, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.

Local sources told Anadolu that a plane believed to be from the coalition circled for over an hour above areas held by the Syrian regime and its Iranian-sponsored militia allies in Deir al-Zour province and targeted a number of bases belonging to the Iranian-sponsored militias near the town of Mayadeen.

The sources said that no one was killed in the strikes because the bases had been evacuated before, although an unspecified number of militiamen were wounded.

Iranian-sponsored militias in Deir al-Zour province have been regularly targeted by the US-led anti-IS coalition and Israel. Iran is one of the Assad regime’s key backers and thousands of militiamen from Iran-backed groups are present in Syria. The most prominent Iranian militias are the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Quds Brigade.

Last week, a suspected Israeli strike killed nine fighters from Iran-backed militias near Syria’s border with Iraq.