Pro-Iranian Syrian militias intensified on Monday their campaign against the commander of the elite “Tiger Forces,” Suheil Salman al-Hassan, who is backed by Russia and had attended meetings with President Vladimir Putin at the Hmeimim base in late 2018.
The National Defense Forces, a pro-government militia formed by Iran to fight in Syria during the past years, posted Monday on its Facebook page a report entitled, “Tiger Forces Commander… the godfather of stealing.”
The page quoted the network “Nahno al-Balad” as saying that “one of the Tiger Forces commanders has turned from a person who barely owns the price of one-bedroom house to a millionaire and one of the most prominent warlords.”
The NDF also published another report about Rami al-Tabel, a commander affiliated with the Tiger. It described al-Tabel as a truck driver who became a fuel warhead dealer.
The report explained that Fouad Adnan, the head of Tiger’s office is the brother-in-law of al-Tabel.
Last summer, the Tiger Forces have been renamed Division 25 Special Mission Forces and placed under the command of the army’s central command.
Meanwhile, the Damascus Securities Exchange said Monday that trading in Syriatel shares would be suspended from Tuesday until further notice.
The Syrian Telecommunications Ministry had demanded Syriatel to pay $180 million as part of its measures against Rami Makhlouf, a maternal cousin of the Syrian government President, Bashar Assad.
Since the decision, disagreements between Makhlouf and Syrian authorities have escalated.
Last month, the Ministry of Finance had also announced the seizure of Makhlouf’s assets. The Damascus Securities Exchange froze $15.2 million shares owned by Makhlouf in 12 banks, in addition to a court in Damascus issuing a travel ban against the business tycoon.
The decision affected his shares in Lebanon’s Audi Bank, Byblos Bank and Fransabank, the Jordan-based Arab Bank, and others.
The Syrian regime has also stripped Makhlouf of his privileges, such as security detail, which protected him and his palace.:
