On the backdrop of the a US-led coalition strike on Syrian army positions in the vicinity of the Syria-Iraq border overnight Thursday, a Syrian Air Force (SAF) cargo aircraft was spotted making its way from the Syrian capital of Damascus to the city of Albu Kamal in the Syrian Desert en route to Tehran.

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Assad's army held several cargo flights over the past week to the Albu Kamal area that was bombarded overnight Thursday, as reported by Ynet.

Cargo aircraft making its way from Damascus to Teheran

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 12 pro-regime fighters were killed, including foreign nationals.

Aviation enthusiasts are trained to detect military aircraft in real-time using special software. Despite the fact that the detection of military aircraft depends on the civil radar's limited coverage range, there are websites that detect military aircraft by processing the flight data, including their altitude and speed.

The SAF has four Russian Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircrafts. Three of them have been detected in action over the past month, and the fourth one is likely not operational.

Russian Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft's route

The aircraft landing at the bombarded compound departed last week Wednesday from Damascus to the Albu Kamal area and returned the next day.

The aircraft had flown last Sunday to the same area and returned three and a half hours later.

Notwithstanding the US's demand that Iranian forces withdraw from Syria, the SAF continues dispatching aerial convoys using cargo aircrafts to the Revolutionary Guards' posts.

The logistic sorties are held despite American and Israeli strike in the area. Over the past two weeks two Syrian cargo aircrafts have been recorded heading from Teheran to Damascus.

Russian Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft (Photo: shutterstock)

While the precise content loaded onto the aircraft is unknown, the pre-flight time returning back to Damascus took four hours

ISIS controlled the stricken area of Albu Kamal until last year when it was reoccupied by the SAF.

One part of the area is currently held by the SAF, Iran and Hezbollah and the other is controlled by the Kurdish forces that receive aid from the US-led coalition.

The US have denied Syrian reports that it is responsible for the strike, and the Pentagon has claimed it knows nothing about the US-led coalition's activity in the area.

"We have no operational reporting of a US-led coalition strike against pro-Syrian regime targets or forces," Captain Bill Urban, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said.

Another Pentagon official speaking anonymously reiterated Urban's statement saying, "We have no information about what happened there."