Head of Pro-Iran Armed Faction Arrested in Syria, Says Monitor

Security forces detained Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy in Deir Ezzor on Thursday. (AFP file)
Security forces detained Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy in Deir Ezzor on Thursday. (AFP file)
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Head of Pro-Iran Armed Faction Arrested in Syria, Says Monitor

Security forces detained Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy in Deir Ezzor on Thursday. (AFP file)
Security forces detained Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy in Deir Ezzor on Thursday. (AFP file)

Security forces in Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor have arrested the head of an Iran-affiliated faction that fought alongside ousted President Bashar al-Assad's forces, a war monitor said Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces detained Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy in Deir Ezzor on Thursday.

The Britain-based Observatory said Douaihy founded and led a faction known as the Sayyida Zeinab Brigade, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

That faction was active in the city of Al-Mayadeen, fighting alongside Assad's forces, said the Observatory which has a network of sources in Syria.

It added that Douaihy received Iranian citizenship after converting to the Shiite branch of Islam.

Douaihy was "involved in a long list of crimes including financial blackmail, drug smuggling, theft of civilians' properties and selling displaced people's land to naturalized Iranian and Afghan mercenaries", the Observatory said.

Security forces also arrested Major General Abdul Karim al-Muhaimid, the former political security chief in Deir Ezzor province under Assad, the monitor said.

Iran had mobilized about 20,000 fighters, mostly Syrians, in different factions to fight alongside Assad's forces.

Before Assad was toppled, much of Deir Ezzor province near the border with Iraq was a key stronghold of Iran-backed forces.

Some handed in their weapons after Assad's ouster in December, but others remain in hiding, according to the Observatory.

Since seizing power, Syria's new authorities have regularly announced the arrest of Assad-era security officials.



Syria and Neighbors Urge Israel to Stop Bombings

Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
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Syria and Neighbors Urge Israel to Stop Bombings

Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)

The foreign ministers of Syria, Türkiye and Jordan, meeting Monday in Ankara, called on Israel to cease attacks on Syria and to withdraw troops from the country.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December, often targeting military sites and killing dozens of people.

Israeli officials have also described Syria's new authorities as extremists and claimed to defend the country's Druze minority with a recent spate of attacks.

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference with his Jordanian and Syrian counterparts that "Israel's expansionism poses a significant threat to the security, stability and future of Syria."

"This must come to an end. And we are on the same page about this. Syria needs to be supported to prevent terrorist organizations from settling in this region," Fidan added, noting that Syria shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Türkiye.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani told the joint press conference that "our borders are constantly violated by Israeli attacks".

The Israeli strikes are "calculated escalations aimed at destabilizing Syria and dragging the region into a new cycle of conflict", Shaibani said, decrying "systematic violations of international law and explicit provocations".

He called on the international community to put Israel under "increased pressure" to halt the bombings.

Jordan's top diplomat, Ayman Safadi, said attacks on Syrian soil "will not bring security to Israel and will bring nothing to Syria except ruin and destruction".