Iran’s presence in Syria | Afghan “Fatimiyon” militia stationed in grain silos building on Palmyra- Deir Ezzor highway

SOHR activists have reported that Iranian-backed Afghan “Fatimiyon” militia operating in the ancient city of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs has taken the grain silos building, 10 km east to Palmyra, as its new headquarters, where the silos building is located near Palmyra-Deir Ezzor.

On June 10, Reliable sources informed SOHR that militiamen affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) burned down five houses in a neighbourhood in the western part of the archaeological city of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs.

According to SOHR sources, these militiamen had given weak arguments for burning down the civilian houses, such as “the owners of these houses dealt previously with ISIS and opposition factions” and “the owners of these houses live in areas outside the control of regime forces and Iranian-backed militias or live abroad.”

Observatory sources confirmed that the IRGC-backed militiamen used a particular substance to fragment concrete while burning down the houses, where individuals affiliated with these militiamen were seen extracting iron used in the construction of houses and copper wires for selling them.

It is worth noting that such violations took place in full view of regime forces which have taken no action, despite appeals by the residents of Palmyra city to curb the expansion of Iranian-backed militias in the city and put an end to their violations.

Iranian-backed militias had seized civilian houses in Palmyra and furniture of houses under the pretext that “some of these houses’ owners had participated in the peaceful protests against the Syrian regime, while the others had engaged in the fight alongside opposition factions and ISIS.”