Airstrikes Target Afghan Militias Along Syria-Iraq Border

Attacks targeted sites outside al-Mayadeen

Continuing a series of airstrikes in the Syria-Iraq border area, an unidentified aircraft hit two sites outside of the city of al-Mayadeen. Casualties are as yet unconfirmed, but the attacks targeted the Fatemiyoun militia, an Afghan Shi’ite group.

But because they’re Shi’ites, and because these reports appear to emerge out of Israeli media outlets, they are consistently labeled “Iranian militias.” This has been the case even though the slain in recent strikes have almost exclusively been from Iraqi militia groups.

While the warplanes carrying out the strikes have not been identified recently, it is also generally believed that they are Israeli planes, as Israeli officials consistently attack Shi’ite groups around the area and frame it as attacking Iran.

The US has also been carrying out attacks against Iraqi Shi’ite militias recently though, and that can’t be ruled out. It’s unlikely that the US would be involved in this case, however, as there is no apparent reason to attack the Fatemiyoun.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.