A local activist collective, Deir Ezzor 24, reported that the building was used as base for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
2 DIE FROM CHOLERA IN SYRIA AFTER A DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE DAMAGES HEALTH, WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
A suspected drone strike in the province of Deir el-Zour, Syria, killed at least three people on March 8, 2023. (AP Photo)
Syrian state media, however, claimed that a mine "left by terrorists" — a term often used by the government for opposition forces battling Assad’s side in the war — detonated in the area, killing three people and wounding seven. The state media reports showed photographs of a building with several floors collapsed and reduced to rubble, as well as a destroyed truck.
SYRIA'S LACK OF MEDICAL CARE AND POOR WATER QUALITY EXACERBATES CHOLERA OUTBREAK
Syria's 12-year civil war has killed at least 300,000 people and displaced half the country’s population of 23 million.
The militant Islamic State group once had a stronghold in much of northeastern Syria as part of its so-called caliphate. Today, several groups, including U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces as well as Syrian government troops with their Russian and Iranian allies control the area. However, IS sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks there.
Past attacks on Iranian and Iranian-linked targets in eastern Syria have been attributed to either the United States or Israel, though the latter rarely acknowledges its involvement in such attacks.