Fear of airstrikes forces residents from homes in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – The family of Haj Ibrahim Mustafa was forced to leave the house for fear of an air attack after a pro-Iranian faction established an ammunition depot adjacent to his house in al-Tebni town in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
The family went to stay with their relatives in the city of al-Bukamal, east of Deir ez-Zor, afraid that otherwise they would become human shields in their own town.
Since mid-April, Iranian-backed groups began constructing military headquarters and ammunition depots in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which is under the control of government forces, after transferring part of their military weight from the eastern countryside to the western countryside.
Among the groups that supervise and implement this step are Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, the Fatemiyoun Brigade (Liwa Fatemiyoun), Iraqi Hezbollah, and the Palestinian al-Quds Brigades, with the aim of relieving pressure on the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which is a major stronghold of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria.
Hashem al-Maslat, a resident of the town of al-Tebni, said that the houses near the health clinic in the town were converted into military headquarters and a Liwa Fatemiyoun affiliation office a year after its seizure, on the accusation that their owners reside in Turkey and previously worked with the Islamic State (ISIS).
At the beginning of June, members of the Fatemiyoun Brigade were stationed in three headquarters and an affiliation office in the vicinity of the health clinic in the center of the town.
Al-Maslat indicated that they live in a state of terror every morning upon waking up to the sound of drones and fighter aircraft; in some neighborhoods flights continue into the late hours of the night.
Restricting people’s movement
The area in which military warehouses and headquarters are spread is witnessing a restriction of the freedom of the population in general, and the eastern neighborhoods of al-Tebni town and the vicinity of the clinic and the municipality in particular, through bans on the movement of cars and motorbikes.
Local resident Hiba Khalaf said that her 19-year-old son was arrested in front of their house near the municipality building in al-Tebni by the Fatemiyoun Brigade, after he criticized them and described them as “cowards” who hide among the residents.
She pointed out that the arrest took place during the first week of June. He was arrested for three days, only to be released and threatened with ten years in prison if the complaint was repeated.
The woman believes that the aim of the process of restricting the movement of cars and bicycles and arresting residents of the neighborhoods in which the headquarters are located, is harassment of residents who are not involved within these groups.
The area in general and the town of al-Tebni in particular recorded cases of displacement of families after the spread of ammunition depots and headquarters of Iranian groups among residential neighborhoods for fear of being bombarded by the Israeli air force, which occasionally targets Iranian-backed groups in the area.
The displacement is concentrated in the eastern neighborhoods and the vicinity of the medical clinic in al-Tebni towards the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, because families own homes and have relatives in the cities of al-Bukamal and al-Mayadin, east of Deir ez-Zor.
Resident Ibrahim al-Mustafa indicated that he went to the city of al-Bukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which is held by the government forces, out of fear for his children and family that the warehouse located next to his house would be targeted.