Shafaq News/ Israeli airstrikes killed Sixteen fighters from the Syrian Army and allies in eastern Syria on Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The strikes targeted areas of Deir el-Zur and Abu Kamal close to Syria's border with Iraq. The Syrian Observatory said the strikes hit 18 sites of pro-Iranian militias, killing five Syrian army soldiers and eleven others from militias affiliated to it. 

The attack is the fourth in the past two weeks in a series of Israeli attacks on Iranian-backed sites throughout Syria. The targets were allegedly military training sites of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah, and Fatimiyyun group.

The official Syrian news agency, SANA, announced that Israeli airforces targeted areas in Deir el-Zor and Abu Kamal at dawn on Wednesday. 

Israel has stepped up strikes on Syria in the last few months as part of a shadow war to undermine the Iranian military Power in Syria and hinder arms transfer to Hezbollah. 

The Israeli army had reportedly struck more than 500 targets in Syria, according to official Israeli statements a fortnight ago.