Eight Members of Pro-Iran Militia Killed in Syria’s Mayadeen

A staff member sets up the Iranian flag atop a new consular annex to Iran's embassy in Damascus on its inauguration day on April 8, 2024. (AFP)
A staff member sets up the Iranian flag atop a new consular annex to Iran's embassy in Damascus on its inauguration day on April 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Eight Members of Pro-Iran Militia Killed in Syria’s Mayadeen

A staff member sets up the Iranian flag atop a new consular annex to Iran's embassy in Damascus on its inauguration day on April 8, 2024. (AFP)
A staff member sets up the Iranian flag atop a new consular annex to Iran's embassy in Damascus on its inauguration day on April 8, 2024. (AFP)

Eight members of a pro-Iran militia were killed by unknown assailants in Syria’s al-Mayadeen city in the Deir Ezzor region.

The assailants attacked the headquarters of the “Syrian Revolutionary Guards” militia that is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, butchering their victims with knives.

Security and military forces in the region went on high alert in wake of the attack, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

This was the second attack of its kind in less than 48 hours in Deir Ezzor, the so-called “capital of Iranian militias in Syria.”

Earlier, three Syrian members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed by unknown gunmen in an attack on their military position on the outskirts al-Mayadeen.

Naher Media said the victims were killed by ISIS.

A man in his 50s was killed by a stray bullet fired by mourners during the funeral of the three victims, who hail from the predominantly Shiite town of Hatla.

The town is one of seven located east of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor where extremists have thrived.

In 2013, a massacre was committed in the area against mostly Shiite gunmen. Around 60 people were killed.



Israeli Commandos Kidnap Hezbollah ‘Naval Official’ in Lebanon’s Batroun

Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)
Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)
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Israeli Commandos Kidnap Hezbollah ‘Naval Official’ in Lebanon’s Batroun

Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)
Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)

Israeli marine commandos kidnapped a Lebanese citizen in a landing operation in the Batroun region north of Beirut, a Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.

The source said the operation took place at dawn on Friday and targeted Imad Fadel Amhaz, a Hezbollah member. The source did not confirm or deny whether he was an official in the Iran-backed party’s naval unit.

The source said the area where the operation happened had witnessed Israeli activity with Lebanese authorities suspecting that it was a meeting point for Israelis and their agents in Lebanon before the eruption of the war.

Speaking to Lebanon's Al-Jadeed TV, caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie declined to go into details or answer questions about whether it was thought to be an Israeli operation.

Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP an investigation is looking into the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.

Israel’s military said it was looking into local media reports that said its forces captured a senior member of Hezbollah’s naval force during the operation. Israel has carried out in the past commando operations deep inside Lebanon to kidnap or kill Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.

Hamie told Al-Jadeed the man was a captain of civilian ships. He graduated in 2022 and in late September joined the Batroun's Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for additional courses. Hamie said that the man lived roughly 300 meters (980 feet) from the institute.

Hamie's remarks came shortly after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing what appeared to be about 20 armed men taking away a man from in front a house, his face covered with his shirt.

Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said that the peacekeepers helped the landing force in the operation. The UN mission, known as UNIFIL, has a maritime force that monitors the coast.

"Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.