Aerial attacks on convoy from Iraq bound for Syria

Syrian opposition activists and a Beirut-based TV station say air strikes on a convoy of trucks in eastern Syria destroyed several vehicles and killed several people shortly after they crossed the border from Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately clear who was behind the early Monday strikes, adding that three trucks were destroyed shortly after they entered the Syrian border town of Boukamal. It said several people were killed.

Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet that covers news in east Syria, said US aircraft carried out the attack, adding that the trucks were transporting weapons for Iran-backed militias. He said three drivers were killed.

Intensified attacks

Beirut-based al Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in different parts of Syria, also reported that American warplanes carried out the attack, saying the trucks were carrying construction material.

The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Al Mayadeen and Abu Layla said that hours after the air strike, Iran-backed fighters fired rockets at the al Omar oil field that houses US troops.

The attacks come after bases housing US troops in Syria and Iraq have come under rocket and drone attacks over the past weeks as tensions rise in the region over Israel's ongoing Gaza attacks.