Illustrative image. Source: Liwa Fatemiyoun.
On September 21, four fighters of Liwa Fatemiyoun were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up their vehicle in the western outskirts of the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based monitoring group said that the IED attack took place near ammunition depots of the Syrian military located in the area of Ayash.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, yet. ISIS carries out attacks in the western and southern countryside of Deir Ezzor on a regular basis. However, the terrorist group’s cells are not known to be active this close to the governorate’s city center.
The Afghan Shia Liwa Fatemiyoun armed group formed in 2014 to fight in Syria on the side of the government. The group, which is backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is thought to have no more than 500-1,500 fighters in Syria today.
Liwa Fatemiyoun and several other Iranian-backed groups are present in Deir Ezzor to guard the border with Iraq and counter ISIS.
The terrorist group’s cells stepped up their attacks in recent months. Earlier this week, three pro-government fighters were killed when terrorists attacked a military patrol on the M20 highway, between the towns of al-Sukhnah in the eastern Homs countryside and Kobajjep in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The recent attacks show that ISIS is still a real threat to strategic routes and urban centers in Deir Ezzor and neighboring governorates.
