8 government-affiliated militants killed in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Eight militants of a militia affiliated with the Syrian government forces were killed on Saturday in an attack by unknown gunmen in Deir ez-Zor Government, eastern Syria.
Unidentified gunmen, likely to be ISIS cells, attacked a post of the government-backed National Defense Forces (NDF) in the southern countryside of Deir ez-Zor using machineguns, a source from the NDF said.
The NDF is a military formation that was founded by the Syrian government forces and fought along with them during the years of war.
The attack resulted in the killing of eight militants of the NDF and the injury of two others, the source told North Press, adding that the attackers fled to the desert.
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 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 the ISIS sleeper cells.