Deir ez-Zor Military Official: We will attack the Iranian forces that make a demographic change, in case of a green light
Deir ez-Zor – North-Press Agency
Jindar Abdulqader / Roj Mousa
The commander of Deir ez-Zor Military Council, Ahmad Al-Khabeel, also known as (Abu Khawla), has unveiled the demographic change of the city of Deir ez-Zor and the surrounding towns by 50% due to the practices of what he called “Shiite militias”, considering that it’s his legal right to attack these forces in order to get back to his home in the other side of the Euphrates river.
The Military Council of Deir ez-Zor was formed in early 2017, in February of that year, it was announced the start of its main battle to control the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, that ended in the town of Al-Baghuoz, the Deir ez-Zor military-led campaign controlled about 16.000 km² of areas of Deir ez-Zor governorate, which is inhabited by about one and a half million people, including more than 300.000 of internally displaced people.
Abu Khawla was the leader of an armed opposition group in the eastern region since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in March 2011, until the emergence of the Islamic State group and the eventual control over the whole area, which it led many opposition factions to be expelled into Turkey.
Abu Khawla’s statements (will be published on two parts) came in a special interview with North-Press, which took place in a heavily guarded headquarter to protect him from assassinating operations, mostly by ISIS sleeper cells, in the town of Al Suwar, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
The Shiitizing of Deir ez-Zor
Areas under the control of the Syrian government in the western part of Deir ez-Zor, are witnessing Shiitizing campaigns (changing the demography of the area into the Shiite branch), which led to being inserted by human rights organizations in the process of demographic change.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Lebanese Hezbollah which support the Syrian government, are accused of encouraging Shiite campaigns to increase the members of the Shiite community in the region which is known of the majority of Sunnis.
Abu Khawla described the Shiite operations as “political issue”, stating that the Iranian forces in Syria and the Middle East are “another face of ISIS, the difference between them is that ISIS is an extremist Sunni, while Iranian militias are radical Shiites”.
The military leader resembled the demographic change, which he has accused the Iranian forces of implementing, with other demographic changes carried out by the Turkish army and Turkey-backed armed opposition groups in Afrin in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo, noting that “civilians are being displaced and killed, the names of Sunni mosques are being replaced with Shiite ones and religious centers are being constructed for them”.
Abu Khawla described the people who decided to stay in their houses in the areas controlled by the Syrian government as “powerless, in order to preserve their lands,” pointing to the implementation of the demographic changes of up to 50%, specifically the construction of Shiite shrines and centers, saying: “I’m from Deir ez-Zor and I did not hear about these mosques and buildings only after the arrival of the Iranian militias into the region”.
During his talk about Shiitizing campaigns, he pointed out that there are hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians in the areas under the control of their forces in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor. He specified that in his speech, they refer to “the Iraqi and Iranian militias that kill the Syrian people and not the Shiites as a religious doctrine”.
In response to a question about the seriousness of their intentions to attack the Syrian government forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in case the Global Coalition asked them to do so, he said that they don’t have any current plans regarding that, classifying government and Iranian forces as “occupation of their land”, keeping the legal right where he said “attacking militias and returning to our homes”.
Smuggling Oil
The smuggling of oil between the two banks of the Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor between the controlled areas of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government ones is increasing, amid reports of direct coordination between leaders of Deir ez-Zor Military Council and the Iranian forces.
The Global Coalition added the operation of targeting water ferries, which were carrying oil from the town of al-Shheell to the town of Boqruss on the other bank of the Euphrates, areas under the Syrian government control last May, to the file of targeting oil trade operations conducted through local intermediaries and a group of dealers between the SDF and Syrian government areas.
Abu Khawla assured that they cannot control the smuggling operations in the Euphrates trough due to the rough roads and the forests on the two banks, describing the smuggling operations carried out as “small”.
The military leader linked the accusations against him about smuggling oil with tribal differences, refusing to mention the details, as well as saying that the accusations come from the political refusal of SDF by some parties.
He denied the existence of forces related to his council on the Euphrates saying “Self-Defense Forces of Autonomous Administration are protecting the Euphrates line and the Iraqi borders, while our forces are protecting the rear lines and help in controlling the security situation”.
Who targets the security of Deir ez-Zor?
As for the poor security situation in Deir ez-Zor, the military commander said, “ISIS has strong security sleeper cells and is helped by the popular, extremist and sympathetic class, which is there in a few numbers”.
The areas of the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor are experiencing major security risks, represented by the activity of the Islamic State cells, which target the SDF and civilians, leading to great economic and social effects, such as the rehabilitation of the countryside and facilitating the entry of the international humanitarian organizations into the region.
The general commander of Deir ez-Zor Military Council accused the Syrian and Turkish governments, the Iranian armed forces, the armed opposition groups and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham HTS (previously known as al-Nusra Front) of destabilizing security in their areas of control, reinforcing his accusations by documents he owns that reveal carrying out some bombings in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor by sleeper cells which belong to HTS and the other armed opposition groups.
He added that ISIS had become a designer for all military forces; in adopting bombings and assassinations carried out by other parties, as ISIS considers all security operations targeting the SDF as encouraging for their sleeper cells.
He also pointed to the security procedures taken by his forces, saying that he has a strong intelligence apparatus to follow sleeper cells and moving special forces to carry out daily security operations against those cells, pointing out that they hold meetings and dialogues with the locals and former detainees to raise their awareness towards the dangers of ISIS and its cells.
* The second part of the interview with Abu Khawla, the commander of Deir ez-Zor Military Council, will be published tomorrow.