In five months | Nearly 70 shepherds killed and thousands of cattle killed and stolen by ISIS members and pro-Iranian militias in Syrian desert
Shepherds are the victims of military operations in the Syrian desert, with the presence of the Islamic State and militias loyal to Iran and the regime, where they have long been attacked along with their cattle. These attacks, which include killing and stealing cattle, are carried out with machine guns or sharp objects.
From late September 2020 to the beginning of March 2021, SOHR has monitored all violations against shepherds.
In the last 5 months, the Syrian Observatory has documented more than 17 violations against the shepherds, concentrated in al-Fasda area and farms in the village of Bayad in Al-Sa’an countryside, and east of Al-Rahjan in Hama desert, the perimeter of al-Sukhna area and near al-Rifai in Jabal al-Amur, and Rsim Al-Taweel area in Jab al-Jarrah, all located in the Homs desert, the Rajim Al-Sawan area in Aleppo countryside, as well as other areas in the Syrian desert in the Aleppo-Hama-Raqqa triangle and Deir al-Zor desert.
During this period, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the killing of 28 shepherds, including four women, and the injury of 41 others, all of whom were killed and injured either by firing squad or by sharp objects by Islamic State members and pro-regime militias.
The last operations took place yesterday, where reliable sources informed SOHR that four shepherds from Tal Daman district were found dead in farmlands in Rajm Al-Sawwan area in Khanaser desert in the southern countryside of Aleppo in the Hama-Aleppo-Raqqa triangle in the areas held by Iranians. After that, one of the shepherds also was killed in an armed attack on the village of Hawiyet al-Deeba, east of Al-Rahjan.
On September 29, Syrian Observatory sources reported that gunmen of Iranian-backed militias, stationed in Al-Fasedah area in south-eastern Al-Sa’an in Hama desert, opened machinegun fire on civilians shepherding sheep in the area. The attack resulted in the death of at least nine people, while seven others were injured, some seriously.