Sixteen members of pro-Iranian groups were killed overnight in an Israeli bombardment targeting a factory in Haiyan, a town near Aleppo in northern Syria from Sunday to Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said.

Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting the military of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and supporting pro-Iranian groups there.

The nighttime strikes targeted a factory where pro-Iranian groups are located, “causes violent explosions”According to OSDH. “Sixteen Syrians and Foreigners Killed”, added the NGO, without specifying whether all the victims were combatants. The NGO gave an initial report that twelve people had died overnight.

This was stated in a statement issued by the Syrian Ministry of Defense“After midnight (…) “The Israeli enemy launched an airstrike targeting some positions near Aleppo from the southeast of Aleppo.”Then added: “The occupation caused many casualties and material damage. »

According to the United Kingdom-based OSDH, the country has a vast network of resources at war, with rescuers and firefighters rushing to the scene, extinguishing the blaze and evacuating the injured. The NGO added that Haiyan “Controlled by pro-Iranian groups composed of Syrians and foreigners”.

Israeli attacks have intensified since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in October. On Wednesday evening, two Israeli strikes targeted a coastal town in central Syria, killing a girl and three Syrian fighters from Damascus’s ally Hezbollah, according to official Syrian media and the OSDH.

By the end of March, according to the OSDH, Israeli strikes in Aleppo had killed at least fifty-two Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters; This is the heaviest toll the Syrian army has suffered in these attacks in Syria since the beginning of October.

Israeli officials rarely comment on the strikes, but have repeatedly said they will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.