17 Pro-Iran Militants Killed, Injured in ISIS Attack in Central Syria

Members of the Liwa Fatemiyoun during training in eastern Syria. (Euphrates Post file photo)
Members of the Liwa Fatemiyoun during training in eastern Syria. (Euphrates Post file photo)
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17 Pro-Iran Militants Killed, Injured in ISIS Attack in Central Syria

Members of the Liwa Fatemiyoun during training in eastern Syria. (Euphrates Post file photo)
Members of the Liwa Fatemiyoun during training in eastern Syria. (Euphrates Post file photo)

Seventeen members of the pro-Iran Liwa Fatemiyoun militia were killed and wounded in an attack carried out by the ISIS terrorist group in the Homs countryside in central Syria.

A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militants, who are affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, were killed in an ISIS ambush on Monday night.

The ambush targeted a Liwa Fatemiyoun military position in the Doubayat gas field area that is a stronghold of the militia.

Eight members of the militia were killed in the attack. Nine others were wounded and they were taken to a field hospital in Palmyra for treatment.

Groups affiliated with the IRGC in Palmyra attempted to dispatch military reinforcements to the site of the attack, but it was targeted by another ISIS ambush along the road connecting Plamyra to al-Sukhna region.

This forced Russian jets to intervene. They carried out over 20 strikes against ISIS in the area.

An opposition activist in the city of Salamiyah said ISIS has increased its activity in the Syrian desert in Hama, Homs and central parts of the country in recent weeks. It has staged surprise attacks against IRGC positions and regime convoys in the desert (Badia).

Vehicles transporting pro-Iran militants, of various nationalities, cross Salamiyah on a daily basis headed towards the Hama desert to reinforce positions there, he revealed.

Several pro-Iran militants have been killed in ISIS attacks in recent days in regions in eastern Hama. Convoys transporting regime fighters, including officers, have also been targeted by the extremists. Thirteen regime forces were killed and five others were captured in one attack.

The regime and pro-Iran militias, backed by Russian air cover, have launched a large-scale operation to crackdown on ISIS remnants in the Syrian Badia in Hama and Homs, extending to the southern and eastern parts of the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces in the east.

Despite these efforts, the operation has not curbed ISIS’ renewed activity. The group has resorted to ambushes and surprise attacks. Over 115 regime loyalists, including Iranians and Afghan mercenaries, have been killed in ISIS attacks in recent months.



Brazil's President Accuses Israel of 'Premeditated Genocide' in Gaza

Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)
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Brazil's President Accuses Israel of 'Premeditated Genocide' in Gaza

Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday during a trip to Paris accused Israel of carrying out "premeditated genocide" in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

"It's a premeditated genocide from a far-right government that is waging a war against the interests of its own people," he said at a joint press conference with France's President Emmanuel Macron, AFP reported.

While Lula has previously used the term "genocide", Macron has refused to, saying last month it was not for a "political leader to use to term but up to historians to do so when the time comes".