ISIS suspects shoot dead Imam in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Unidentified attackers, said to be militants of Islamic State Organization (ISIS), shot dead on Monday an Imam [a worship leader of a mosque] in a village east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria.
A local source from the town of Sabha, 30 kilometers east of Deir ez-Zor, said unidentified armed men, riding a motorbike, shot dead the 50-year-old Suleiman al-Ghannam, an Imam and a former principle, in the village of al-Hejnah, affiliated with the town.
The source added that the armed men managed to flee towards desert without revealing their identity or the party they belong to.
On Tuesday, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) commented on the same incident, saying that the armed men, who targeted al-Ghannam, are likely to be ISIS affiliates.
The SOHR added that the armed men chanted pro-ISIS slogans before killing al-Ghannam.
On October 3, ISIS blew up a currency exchange office in a town east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, after the owner refused to pay Zakat (Islamic taxes) to the organization’s militants.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
Although the SDF launches intensive security operations, the countryside of Deir ez-Zor has recently witnessed an increase in killing incidents carried out against SDF members, employees of the Autonomous Administration, tribal figures and civil residents.
The SDF keeps pursuing ISIS sleeper cells in Deir ez-Zor eastern countryside with the aim to maintain security and stability of the region.