Drones Attack Convoy In Syrian Region Controlled By Iran-Backed Militias

Drones have attacked a convoy of trucks in an eastern Syrian region that is a stronghold of Iran-backed militias, Syrian opposition activists and a pro-government media outlet say, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and its rivals in the region.

The convoy was hit on the night of January 29 shortly after it crossed into the region of Boukamal from Iraq. The area is under the control of armed groups supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

The drones appear to have been from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State extremist group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that they targeted six refrigerated trucks. The opposition war monitor said there were casualties.

The US-led coalition did not comment on the attack.

The pro-government Sham FM radio station also reported that six refrigerated trucks were hit.

In December, Israel’s military chief of staff strongly suggested that his country was behind a strike on a truck convoy in Syria the previous month.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria in recent years targeting Iranian forces, Syrian government positions, and allied militias.

Israel and its Western allies say Iranian forces and allied militias use the eastern Syrian desert bordering Iraq to transfer fighters and equipment to support the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Shia militant group Hizballah.

 The January 29 drone attack came hours after three bomb-carrying drones targeted an Iranian defense factory in the central city of Isfahan, causing some damage, Iran's Defense Ministry said.

The ministry described the site as a “workshop,” without providing further details. Iran's official IRNA news agency said the drones had targeted "an ammunition manufacturing plant."

The ministry did not say who it suspected was behind the attack.

The Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed "US officials and people familiar with the operation" as saying it was carried out by Israel. Citing "senior [US] intelligence officials," The New York Times reported that the attack was the work of Israel's intelligence service, Mossad.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the "cowardly" attack was an attempt to destabilize the country.

The attack came amid heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program and its supply of drones to Russia’s military engaged in Ukraine. Iran has also been swept by anti-government protests over the past four months.