“Fatemiyoun Brigade” | A religious militia or group of mercenaries?! And what is an Afghani militia doing in Syria?

“Liwaa Fatemiyoun” or “Fatemiyoun Brigade” is an Iranian-backed Afghani militia comprising over 3,000 Shiite fighters who are deployed in several positions in regime-controlled areas throughout Syria. Since it was formed in 2014, the militia has intended to fight against every anti-regime military powers.

 

Everyone knows that Bashar Al-Assad has had recourse to his allies, Iran and Russia, to make sure that he would remain in power and to counter the Syrian revolution, but what is the Afghani militia doing in Syria?! Has Al-Assad called for the help of Afghani mercenaries and other non-Syrian militias that are deployed widely throughout Syria?

 

One example, among many, of Fatemiyoun Brigade’s suspicious movements in Syria was on January 11 when SOHR activists monitored the Afghan “Fatimiyoun Brigade” unloading a weapons shipment from four large trucks used for transporting vegetables and fruits. According to SOHR sources, the trucks were loaded with Iranian-made missiles, coming from Iraq. The shipments were stored in commercial warehouses rented from civilians in the area of Kua Ibn Aswad, located between Al-Mayadeen city and Mahakan town in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

 

Moreover, the Iranian-backed militia has changed the name of a street in Al-Mayadeen city in eastern Deir Ezzor on October 11, 2020, putting a signboard read “Fatemiyoun Street” in Arabic and Persian.

 

While in mid-July 2020, reliable sources told SOHR that the Iranian-backed militias of “Fatemiyoun” disbanded the regime-affiliated “peasant union” in areas where they were deployed in Al-Mayadeen. “Fatemiyoun” militias also started to reclaim farmlands in the area through establishing workshops for plowing fields at lower prices.

 

Moreover, the Iranian-backed militias offered to subsidizing the farmers’ crops in return for investing the plowing of farmlands and not selling the harvest to any body but them. This development comes as a part of the Iranian-backed militias’ efforts to strengthen their presence in Al-Mayadeen area in eastern Deir Ezzor.

 

On the other hand, “Fatemiyoun” militias brought in several tractors and plowing instruments, and distributed them in the towns of Mohassan, Al-Bolail, Al-Zabari and Baqrus, in an attempt to establish a popular base and woo of the area’s people who mainly rely on farming, especially with the economic hardship in Syria.