ISIS attacks Iranian militia, government forces in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Islamic State (ISIS) militants carried out on Monday two violent attacks on posts of Iranian-backed militia and National Defense, affiliated with Syrian government forces, in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria.
A military source of the National Defense forces in Deir ez-Zor said that ISIS militants targeted a common checkpoint of the National Defense forces and the Iranian-backed militia in the village of Ma’adan Atiq, in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor, with machineguns.
The attack was followed by clashes between the ISIS militants on the one hand and the two other parties on the other hand. As a result, the ISIS militants took control of the military checkpoint, in addition to two posts near it.
The ISIS militants killed one soldier of the National Defense forces and confiscated weapons, two trucks, and a bus. They also sat fire to the checkpoint, the source added.
While the ISIS militants were fleeing towards the desert, clashes broke out between them and a patrol of the National Defense forces who came to support the soldiers at the checkpoint. The clashes resulted in the killing of another soldier of the National Defense forces and the injury of two others, the source added.
Simultaneously, ISIS militants carried out an attack on three points of the Iranian-backed Liwa Fatemiyoun militia in the town of al-Masrib in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
A military source of the Liwa Fatemiyoun said that unknown armed men, riding a motorcycle, targeted a headquarters and posts of Liwa Fatemiyoun on the vicinity of the al-Masrib.
The attack lasted for more than an hour and resulted in the injury of three militants of Liwa Fatemiyoun and material damage to a truck of the headquarters, the source added.
The Iranian-backed militias and the 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 ISIS sleeper cells.