Gunmen affiliated with the Russian-linked Palestinian ‘Al-Quds Brigade’ militia on Monday carried out an attack on an Assad regime Military Intelligence Division checkpoint south of Deir el-Zour, killing and wounding a number of regime personnel.

Call Syria reported that the militiamen attacked the Hreibsha checkpoint on the Damascus-Deir Al-Zour highway after military intelligence personnel stationed there stopped an ambulance carrying Al-Quds Brigade personnel who had been wounded earlier in a landmine explosion in the southern rural area of Deir el-Zour countryside.

Citing local sources in the area, Call Syria explained that the landmine explosion had hit the Al Quds Brigade militiamen whilst they were on patrol in the Shola area in the south of the governorate, killing and wounding a number of the militia personnel, further revealing that one of the wounded, identified as ‘Deghaim’, is a nephew of the Al Quds Brigade leader nicknamed ‘Camerooni’.

During the militia’s efforts to evacuate its wounded members and transport them to the regime’s Deir el-Zour Military Hospital, the personnel at the Hreibsha checkpoint stopped the ambulances and began searching them, leading to a fight between militia members and regime forces which developed into armed clashes and a major confrontation.
Thereafter, the local sources revealed, ‘Camerooni’ and his militiamen returned to the checkpoint with heavy weapons and 23-mm artillery guns, opening fire and destroying or burning a number of the regime military security members’ tents, as well as killing four of the regime personnel and wounding many others. The latest confrontation, was, apparently, no surprise to those in the area; according to local news network ‘Ein Al-Furat’, rivalry and a struggle for influence has been escalating for some time between the parties in the area linked to Iran and to Russia.

In recent days, Deir el-Zour Governorate has witnessed several clashes between militias affiliated with the Assad regime and Iran, the most recent of which was the outbreak of armed fighting in the cities of Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bukamal between the Iranian regime’s ‘Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ militia and the Assad regime’s intelligence services, following the arrest of a doctor working with the IRGC.

- Call Syria