Iranian-backed government fighters believed killed in Syria

A missile attack targeting government outposts in Syria’s northern region killed 26 progovernment fighters, mostly Iranians, a Syria war monitoring group has said.

Iranian media gave conflicting reports about the overnight incident amid speculation it was carried out by neighboring Israel.

The attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked to President Donald Trump on the phone.

The White House said the two leaders discussed the continuing threats and challenges facing the Middle East, “especially the problems posed by the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities.”

The Uk-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack, late on Sunday night, appears to have been carried out by Israel and targeted an arms depot for surface-to-surface missiles at a base in northern Syria known as Brigade 47. The Observatory said four Syrians were also among casualties and warned that the death toll could rise as the attack also wounded 60 fighters and there were several others still missing.

However, an Iranian semiofficial news agency denied reports that Iranian fighters were killed or that Iranianrun bases were hit. The Tasnim news agency quoted an unnamed Iranian informed official in its report but did not elaborate on the denial.

Another semi-official news agency, ISNA, said the strike killed 18 Iranians, including a commander, in a suburb of the central city of Hama. It cited “local sources and activists” for its report.

The missiles targeted buildings and centres which likely include a weapons depot, ISNA reported. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Tehran has sent thousands of fighters to back President Bashar Assad’s forces in the country’s seven-year civil war.

The attack comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and Israel following an airstrike earlier this month on Syria’s T4 air base in central province of Homs that killed seven Iranian military personnel. Tehran has vowed to retaliate for the T4 attack.

Syria, Iran and Russia blamed Israel for that T4 attack. Israel did not confirm or deny it.

Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published last Thursday that his country will strike Tehran if attacked by archenemy Iran, escalating an already tense war of words between the two adversaries.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Monday quoted chief of Fatimayoun Brigade, an Iran-backed Afghan militia in Syria fighting alongside Iranian forces, as saying their base near Aleppo was not targeted during the strikes and they had no casualties. It did not elaborate.