Popular Mobilization Forces personnal stand by a burning truck after a drone attack, blamed on Israel, in western Iraq near the Syria border, August 25, 2019 (AP)

Reports from eastern Syria say five Iran-backed foreign militia have been killed in an airstrike.

The attack, near al-Bukamal on the Iraqi border, targeted three military vehicles.

Sky News Arabia did not name the attacker, but Israel has carried out a series of missile strikes on Assad regime, Iranian, and Hezbollah targets and stepped up operations this spring.

Following standard practice, the Israel Defense Forces made no comment.

Since mid-April, Israel has carried out at least six attacks. Earlier this month, airstrikes on a base with Iran-backed forces near al-Bukamal reportdly killed seven militiamen. On May 4, the Israelis reportedly hit munitions depots in northwest Syria near the Scientific Studies and Research Center, connected to the regime’s chemical weapons program as well as the development of missiles.

Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett issued a series of warnings to the Islamic Republic:

We have moved from blocking Iran’s entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop….

We are determined, more determined [than Iran], and I can tell you why — for Iran, Syria is an adventure happening 1,000 km away from home. For us, it’s our lives.

Israeli defense officials claimed after the wave of attacks in early May that Iran is withdrawing some of its forces from Syria. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah acknowledged the attacks, but denied that they were forcing the Lebanese organization or Iran to depart from Syria’s 110-month conflict.

Israel’s strikes initially focused on stopping the movement of weapons and preventing an Iranian or Hezbollah province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. However, since 2017 the missile attacks have expanded to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for Iran’s full military withdrawal from Syria.