In a series of overnight airstrikes on Saturday, unidentified aircraft targeted Iran-backed militants in the border region of Boukamal, eastern Syria, near a strategic crossing with Iraq. The strikes resulted in the death of six militants and injuries to two others, according to sources within Iraqi militia groups.

The attacks occurred shortly after the Islamic Resistance, an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militants, claimed responsibility for an attack on a U.S. military base in Irbil, northern Iraq. The Islamic Resistance has been involved in numerous attacks on U.S. positions in both Iraq and eastern Syria since the beginning of the Hamas-Israel war on October 7.

Of the six militants killed in the Boukamal airstrikes, four were reportedly from Lebanon's Hezbollah group, and the remaining two were Syrian. Two others sustained injuries during the airstrikes, as reported by sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Local activist collective Deir Ezzor 24 stated that the strikes targeted two militant posts and a recently stocked weapons warehouse, which allegedly contained rocket launchers and munitions. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-backed opposition war monitor, added that the airstrikes also hit a militants' convoy arriving from Iraq and a location where a militia affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard was undergoing training.

While Washington has not immediately commented on the airstrikes, it had previously announced plans to target Iran-backed militia positions in response to a surge in attacks over the past two months. President Joe Biden recently ordered strikes on Iranian-backed Iraqi groups following a rocket attack that wounded three U.S. troops.

The situation has placed Baghdad in a delicate position, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attempting to ease tensions between the militant groups supporting his government and the United States, where Iraq's foreign reserves are housed.

The Boukamal region, along the Iraqi border, has been a strategic area for Iran-backed militants since its liberation from the Islamic State group in 2019. U.S. coalition forces have previously conducted strikes targeting convoys in the region during periods of heightened tension.

As of now, Washington has not issued an official statement on the Boukamal airstrikes, but the incident adds to the escalating tensions in the already volatile region.