An airstrike in eastern Syria killed eight fighters of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.
"Unidentified aircraft targeted vehicles and arms depots in the Albu Kamal area, causing a large explosion. At least eight Iraqi PMF fighters were killed," the head of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said.
He said several others were wounded.
Through a spokesman contacted by Agence France Presse, the US-led military coalition operating in Syria and Iraq denied carrying out the strike.
Abdel Rahman said three villages in the Albu Kamal area known for housing forces loyal to Tehran have been targeted by drone strikes since Wednesday, causing no casualties.
The deadly strike comes in a context of spiraling tension between the United States and Iran, much of which has played out in Iraq.
Late last year, a US airstrike in Iraq killed 25 PMF fighters from Kataeb Hezbollah, considered one of the closest to Tehran.
PMF supporters subsequently stormed the huge US embassy compound in central Baghdad, further escalating the situation.
On January 3, a US strike near Baghdad airport killed Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Also killed in the strike was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a founder of Kataeb Hezbollah.
Tehran has vowed bloody revenge and has so far responded with ballistic missiles on a base in western Iraq housing US and other coalition troops.
