Unknown attackers kill Iranian-backed leader in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – An Iranian-backed leader was killed on Saturday by unidentified assailants in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria.
A military source of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Deir ez-Zor said that unknown assailants, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on the vehicle of Muhanad al-Sarai, 36, leader of Abu al-Fadel al-Abbas faction, affiliated to Iranian-backed militia, on the main route connecting between the towns of al-Mayadin and al-Tayiba, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
The source told North Press that al-Sarai had severely injured and transported to a hospital in al-Mayadin where he died.
Al-Sarai who hails from the city of al-Mayadin is a leader in Abu al-Fadel al-Abbas faction.
Shortly after the incident, the Iranian-backed militia sent military reinforcements to the site of the incident to pursue the attackers.
The Syrian Desert covers nearly half of the area of Syria and is distributed over the governorates of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Rif Dimashq, Suwayda, and Palmyra.
The Iranian-backed militias and Syrian government forces control large areas of the Syrian Desert and the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which constitutes a source of concern as it witnesses intensive operations by the Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells.