Government-affiliated groups clash over smuggling routes in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Clashes erupted on Wednesday between National Defense Forces (NDF) and the Fourth Division, both affiliated with the Syrian government forces, over smuggling routes in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, leading to injuries from both sides.
A military source in the NDF told North Press that clashes with machine guns erupted between members of the NDF and a military post of the Fourth Division stationed on the bank of the Euphrates River near a route for smuggling.
The clashes started after members of the Fourth Division confiscated amounts of smuggled fuel and goods coming from the areas of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in the east of the Euphrates River that belonged to an NDF leader, the source added.
The incident resulted in the injury of two members of the NDF and another of the Fourth Division. The matter was settled after the intervention of patrols of the Military Security and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) where the confiscated materials were returned, according to the source.
The Syrian Desert always witnesses security chaos and instability due to ongoing clashes between the armed groups of the government forces, the Iranian-backed militias, and ISIS sleeper cells.
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.
Iranian-backed militias and 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.