By Ali al-Beki’
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Nearly 180 men from the village of al-Hari in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, near the Syrian-Iraqi border, have vanished after Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) entered the village, families continue to demand answers—and justice.
Since late 2017, when PMF militias backed by Iran entered the village the following the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS), the lives of hundreds of residents turned into an unending nightmare. Around 180 men and young people disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind grieving families clinging to a thin thread of hope to learn the fate of their loved ones.
The Abu Kamal countryside has witnessed many such stories. Its proximity to the Iraqi border turned it into a tri-national security coordination hub linking the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the PMF, and the al-Assad regime.
With the collapse of the al-Assad regime, the gates of long-secured prisons and detention centers were thrown open, along with the files of detainees and the disappeared, many of whom were abducted by the regime’s security apparatus and cross-border militias allied with it.
North Press presents in this report the testimonies of survivors and relatives of the missing, who accuse the Iraqi PMF militias of abducting their sons during their control of Abu Kamal countryside in Deir ez-Zor.
Mass arrests
Allawi Khamis al-Harfoush, a survivor from al-Hari village, told North Press the harrowing details of his arrest by the Iraqi PMF.
He said he was detained along with about 200 others. They were subjected to indescribable torture. They forced them to confess that they belonged to ISIS. The other option was public execution.
He continued that they took him in for interrogation, and the torture continued until he falsely confessed to being a member of ISIS. Of the 200 detainees, five died under torture. Twenty-five were later released, he was one of them.
He particularly remembered an elderly man named Obaid al-Gharbi, around 50 years old, who died under torture. Another young man from the village of al-Wasi’ah named Ammar Waheed Lahlo also died.
Terrorizing village residents
Saad al-Khalawi, also from al-Hari, recounted to North Press how the Iraqi PMF entered the area.
He said the militias used the harshest methods of force and intimidation against civilians, including women and the elderly, even though there were no armed forces or resistance in the area. They entered without any opposition but relied on intimidation—beatings and firing light and medium weapons, he noted.
He pointed out that they gathered the village residents in a neighborhood near the border. After two days, they began rounding up young men between 18 and 40 years old. Around 200 people were taken.
Two weeks later, only 20 were released, while 180 remain missing, and no information has surfaced about them since, he said.
17 people from one family
Rabikh Hussein al-Haj, another resident of al-Hari, spoke about the deceptive tactics used by the PMF.
“The PMF gathered us all together. After keeping us together for two or three days, they gathered us supposedly for a meal. Then, they took a group of young men, all of them were young.”
“They took more than 200. Only 30 were returned. The rest, 180, remain missing. just from my family and my brothers’ they took 17 people,” he added.
He mentioned that several villagers suffered serious injuries, some had broken arms, others sustained serious wounds due to the brutality of the torture.
Calls to reveal the fate of disappeared
Mohammad al-Harfoush, also from the village, called on Syria’s Transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his government to demand Iraq reveal the fate of the missing persons from his family and village.
He said, “They beat us, looted and plundered—they took our cars, our tractors—they left nothing,” adding that there were also Iranian members with the Iraqi PMF.
He added, “Now, we demand from the President and the new government to tell us the fate of our sons. What happened to them? We want to know.”
There is speculation that the missing persons are being held in Jurf al-Sakhar Prison in Iraq, according to what their relatives heard.
These testimonies contain direct accusations against PMF militia of committing crimes of torture, murder, and enforced disappearance against Syrian civilians in al-Hari village.
The fate of around 180 people from al-Hari remains unknown since 2017, amid complete silence and disregard for the pleas of their grieving families. Calls continue for the Syrian transitional government and international humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to uncover the fate of the disappeared and hold those responsible accountable.