Presumed Israeli air strikes on eastern Syria killed 16 Iran-backed fighters Thursday, a war monitor said, hours after Damascus said it intercepted Israeli missiles fired at a central air base. Those killed were "Iraqi paramilitary fighters loyal to Iran, seven of whom were killed outside the city of Mayadeen," Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The other nine were killed in strikes south of the city of Albu Kamal, on the Iraqi border further east. lar/ho/kir