Al-Mayadin | Tens of NDF members break away from regime-backed formation, and join Iranian-backed militia

Reliable SOHR sources in Al-Mayadin city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor have confirmed that a group of the regime-backed militiamen defected from the “National Defense Forces” (NDF) and joined an Iranian-backed militia.

According to SOHR sources, 43 militiamen of the relatives of (Akram Ahmed Al-Akram Al-Khudur), the commander of an Iranian-backed tribal militia dubbed “Al-Sheikh Akram Brigade”, have broken away from NDF and joined Al-Akram’s militia, after being offered financial incentives and additional powers by the militia’s commander.

In late June, Observatory sources said that the head of “Al-Asdeqaa Security Office” in Deir Ezzor province visited the military headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard militias in Al-Mayadeen city.

The official asked the militias’ commanders to list their personal data and photographs of all the members on papers and tables in order to give them security IDs to facilitate their movement in the country.

Regime forces distributed official security cards to these members, with the affiliate member’s information and personal photograph on the front of the card. While on the back of the card you can see the regime president’s signature with a notification reads “the card is issued directly by the President of the Republic Bashar al-Assad for the ‘Iranian friends’ and it is strictly prohibited to intercept this cardholder”.