US Makes Reinforcements at East Syria Base

US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP
US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP
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US Makes Reinforcements at East Syria Base

US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP
US troops in Syria's Deir Ezzor. AFP

International coalition forces led by the United States have taken measures to make “reinforcements” at their military base in northeastern Syria two days after coming under attack by Iran-backed militias in Deir Ezzor’s countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.

“A convoy carrying logistic and military equipment has left the international coalition base in Koniko gas field heading to the coalition base in Al-Omar oilfield in east Deir Ezzor countryside,” reliable sources have informed the Observatory.

“We can’t say definitively who caused them or why the attacks seem to have stepped up,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday about the rocket attacks on the base.

“It is certainly possible that it can be related to” the nuclear talks in Vienna or the two-year anniversary of the Killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US strike at Baghdad airport.

The Observatory said that “unidentified” drones renewed their airstrikes on Iranian proxy positions in the western Euphrates region, targeting military positions in Al-Tabni area and Al-Masrab desert in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor in the early hours of Thursday, causing material damage and casualties.

According to Observatory sources, drone strikes were preceded by explosions, heard in several places in the eastern Euphrates area, near the coalition base in Koniko.



Lebanese Authorities Detain People They Say Were Planning Rockets Attacks on Israel

 Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanese Authorities Detain People They Say Were Planning Rockets Attacks on Israel

 Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese army members gather near a charred car that was hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)

Lebanese authorities have detained several people who were allegedly planning to launch rockets into Israel and seized the weapons, the military said Sunday.

The army said that the arrests were linked to other detentions announced earlier this week. It added that as military intelligence was investigating that case they got information that a new rocket attack was being planned.

The army said troops raided an apartment near the southern port city of Sidon and seized some of the rockets and the launchers and detained several people who were involved in the operation. It said they were referred to judicial authorities.

Authorities on Wednesday detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets toward Israel in two separate attacks in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets.

Meanwhile on Sunday, a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed two people, the Lebanese Civil Defense said in a statement.  

The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Hussein Ali Nasr, whom it described as the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400. Israel said Nasr helped smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon via “Iranian operatives,” including through Beirut airport.

Another person was killed after a Lebanese army vehicle was hit by an explosion in circumstances that were unclear, the Lebanese Civil Defense said.

Since a November ceasefire ended a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of people in Lebanon including civilians and Hezbollah members. Israel says it’s targeting Hezbollah holdouts in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Friday that its fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force regularly violates Lebanese air space.