Israel destroys convoy of vehicles allegedly smuggling Iranian weapons

Israel carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria targeting a convoy of vehicles suspected of smuggling Iranian weapons after it crossed the border from Iraq, people familiar with the attack said on November 9.

The attack late on November 8 near Abu Kamal — a border town often used as a transhipment point by militant groups with ties to  Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — destroyed several vehicles and killed at least 10 people, including an unknown number of Iranians, according to the people and Iraqi militia members, The Wall Street Journal informs.

Iraqi officials said the tanker convoy was carrying a legal shipment of fuel that Iran had sent to Lebanon. At least some of the vehicles were believed to be transporting munitions and missiles in addition to oil, the people familiar with the attack said.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the strike.

Iranian state television reported Wednesday that two fuel tankers had been destroyed after crossing into Syria, blaming the attack on a US drone strike. A spokesman for the US military said its forces weren’t involved.

Iran pledged in September to send fuel to Lebanon to help ease power shortages. But it has also used an overland route through Iraq and Syria to move military hardware and personnel from Iran to Lebanon. Iran and associated militant groups also use airports in Syria to transport weapons and people.

Iran sends one or two convoys said to be carrying oil to Lebanon every month, according to an official with Iraq’s border authority. On November 8  morning, a convoy of 22 vehicles was in the Iraqi border town of al-Qaim, waiting to cross into Syria.

The attack occurred around midnight on the same day after the first 10 tankers had crossed into Syria, the official said. Two tankers were destroyed after travelling several hundred yards inside Syrian territory. The remaining 12 vehicles stayed in al-Qaim.