Member of government forces found dead in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Residents of a town in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria, found on Thursday the corpse of a militant of the National Defense Forces (NDF).
A military source in the NDF said that the residents of the town of al-Hatla found the body of Ayman al-Khalil, a leader in the NDF, handcuffed and shot dead by several bullets.
The NDF is a military formation that was founded by the Syrian government and fought along with it during the years of war.
The leader went missing about 20 days ago while on his way from workplace to his home, the source added.
People close to al-Khalil said that he had been threatened by Iranian-backed militias several times due to dispute over revenues of smuggling in the town.
The Iranian-backed militiasalong with the government forces control large areas of Syria’s Badia and the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, after the military expulsion of ISIS in 2017.