US raids on the Syrian-Iraqi border on Saturday night targeted command and communication headquarters and weapons warehouses used by pro-Iran armed factions. The groups had, however, evacuated their positions last week and moved their leaders to safe alternative locations.
Field sources and Iraqi officials in the al-Anbar governorate told Asharq Al-Awsat that the American attacks on Friday night struck “a nerve in the structure of the factions, and destroyed ammunition that had been collected over the years.”
In Iraq, attacks targeted three locations: two houses and an ammunition storage facility that was established during the years that followed the battles against ISIS, according to a local official.
Eyewitnesses from the town of Al-Qaim, 240 kilometers away from Baghdad, said the two houses witnessed frequent visits by Iraqi and Iranian field commanders during the past months. They added that they were under tight security supervision and are located close to a residential complex housing militants affiliated with the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah.
The armed factions concealed the identity of those killed in the US raids. In a statement, the Popular Mobilization Forces said two sites belonging to the 45th Brigade, which is affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, were targeted in the attack, and 11 militants were wounded.
In the town of Akashat, located a few kilometers away from Al-Qaim, a drone manufacturing facility, which contains a huge ammunition store, was targeted by the raids.
According to the Iraqi official, the facility was newly established, and the factions used reinforced concrete to build it in order to store weapons.
An Iraqi intelligence officer, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said he believed that the strikes “destroyed infrastructure that the factions relied on to coordinate between Iraq and Syria.”
“Now, communications have been cut off almost completely,” and the factions “have lost ammunition that they had accumulated there over long periods,” he remarked.
In Syria, the US raids targeted four sites in the Deir Ezzor governorate: Ayyash, Al-Mayadeen, Al-Quria, and Al-Bukamal, all of which are close to the last Iraqi point where the Iraqi factions are stationed in Al-Qaim.
