ISIS kills, detains pro-Iran militants in Syria’s east Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – On Friday, five members of pro-Syrian regime, Iranian-backed factions were killed and eight were detained in an ambush by ISIS in a town east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria.
“Five Syrian members were killed and eight were arrested, including an Afghan member, in an ambush prepared by ISIS in the vicinity of al-Duwair town,” a military source from the pro-Iranian Hashemiyoun faction in al-Duwair town, 80 kilometers east of Deir ez-Zor, said.
“ISIS members were wearing the government forces’ military uniforms and were riding four-wheel drive vehicles with Syrian government flags raised over them,” the source added to North Press.
“ISIS members withdrew deep into the Syrian Desert, taking with them the detainees and the weapons and ammunition they confiscated.”
On Friday, two members of the pro-government Liwa al-Quds were killed and another was wounded in an IED explosion that targeted their car in the desert of al-Tabani, west of Deir ez-Zor.
Most of those affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-backed Liwa al-Quds faction descend from the towns of Hatla, al-Mayadeen, and Abu Kamal, in addition to the presence of several nationalities from Asian countries within the faction’s ranks.
Three days ago, 17 members of pro-Iranian factions were killed and wounded in an ISIS attack on their military post in the town of Abu Kamal on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
On Thursday, military reinforcements of the pro-Iranian factions of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Liwa Fatemiyoun arrived in the vicinity of the city of Palmyra in the central Syrian Desert in the eastern countryside of Homs, sent by the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces.
“The Iranian factions are preparing to launch a large-scale security campaign in areas in the Syrian Desert, starting from Palmyra city towards the desert of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, in successive stages,” Ali al-Karar (a pseudonym), a member of Liwa Fatemiyoun, said at the time.
The campaign targets ISIS cells active in the vicinity of Palmyra and its neighboring towns, he pointed out.