The Bahraini Iran-backed Shia militia group Saraya al-Ashtar, which has renamed itself as the “Islamic Resistance in Bahrain,” has claimed to have carried out a drone attack against the Israeli city of Eilat last week, which has yet to be verified, after years of inactivity.
The Group
The group was originally formed under the name Saraya al-Ashtar and carried out its first known attack in 2013 against Bahraini police forces. Over the next four years, the group would carry out about two dozen attacks, primarily through bombings, against local security forces in the Northern Governate of the small island nation.
The group also routinely threatened attacks against Israeli interest in Bahrain and the region as a whole, however, none were known to have ever been carried out.
Attacks stopped in 2017 and Saraya al-Ashtar remained inactive until a statement was released today.
The “Attack”
A statement released by the group claimed that they had launched an explosive drone attack against the headquarters of the Israeli transportation company Trucknet in the city of Eilat.
The statement went on to add that the alleged attack took place on April 27, however, there were no reports of drone activity against the city that day, suggesting that the drone launched failed to reach its target or there was not attack at all.
??The new “Islamic resistance in Bahrain” publishes a new video pic.twitter.com/uUkCQVIsmB
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 2, 2024
The statement concluded by stating that the “The Islamic Resistance in Bahrain affirmed that it is continuing its movement and support at all levels for our patient people in Gaza, the resistance, and that it will not stop its operations unless the Zionist aggression against Gaza stops.”
Saraya al-Ashtar also released footage of a drone launch, which appears to be a Samad-type explosive UAV commonly used by other Iran-backed militia forces in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Houthis in Yemen.
So What
While the legitimacy of Saraya al-Ashtar’s claimed attack remains to be seen, it does present itself as an attempt to signal that yet another Iranian proxy has entered the fray, however, the group likely lacks the manpower and capabilities needed to be a legitimate and consistent threat against Israel or its interests in the region.
