Air strikes kill 19 fighters in Syria

BEIRUT: Air strikes likely carried out by Israel killed at least 19 pro-Iran militia fighters in war-torn eastern Syria, a war monitor said on Thursday. The early morning strikes hit positions of Iran-backed militias outside the town of Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzor province, killing fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian state media did not report the attack and Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but the Observatory has accused the Jewish state of launching at least two other aerial attacks against pro-Iran forces in Syria since Saturday.