DAMASCUS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 26 Iraqi fighters were killed by airstrikes targeting an area in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Wednesday evening, a war monitor reported Thursday.
The airstrikes, believed to have been carried out by U.S.-led coalition, targeted an area southeast of the city of al-Bukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The airstrikes killed fighters from the Iraqi Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, said the observatory.
It is known that the Iran-backed fighters have several positions in areas near al-Bukamal.
A day earlier, the Britain-based watchdog said three unknown warplanes carried out 10 airstrikes on positions of Iran-backed fighters in the al-Bukamal area.
In January, eight pro-Iranian fighters were killed when unknown warplanes struck their positions near al-Bukamal.
During the last couple of years in Syria's nine-year-long war, the area near al-Bukamal were repeatedly targeted.
In June of 2018, Israeli airstrikes killed 55 Iranian and pro-Iranian fighters near al-Bukamal.
