Commander of Iran’s Quds Force survives assassination in Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – A commander of Iranian-backed Quds Force survived on Monday an assassination attempt in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, which resulted in the death of one attacker.
A military source within the Quds Force said that two unknown armed men, riding a motorbike, targeted the car of Ali Zakariya, a commander of the Iranian-backed Quds Force, with machine guns as he was returning home in the city of Abu Kamal.
The source, who preferred not to be named, added that the attackers fired at the car of Zakariya, and the latter opened fire on them from his pistol upon which one of the attackers was killed while the other fled away.
Iranian-backed militias and Syrian government forces control large areas of the Syrian Desert and the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which constitutes a source of concern as it witnesses intensive operations by the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) sleeper cells.
Iran officially took the side with the Syrian government at the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. It announced sending the military advisors to support the government forces in fighting against the Syrian opposition factions.
Iran publicly supported and established militias through which it used to implement its aspirations in Syria. The National Defense Forces, the Liwa Fatemiyoun and Liwa Zainebiyoun factions are among the most prominent of these militias.