Iranian Militias Deployed in Central Syria after Russia's Withdrawal

Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
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Iranian Militias Deployed in Central Syria after Russia's Withdrawal

Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces, the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Fourth Division led by Major General Maher al-Assad, have reinforced their military presence in the Mahin military warehouse in the eastern countryside of Homs - the second largest arms and ammunition depot in Syria.

The move came following the withdrawal operation by the Russian forces and the Fifth Brigade towards Palmyra Military Airport.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that huge military IRGC reinforcements arrived to the area in the past two days, with around 40 military vehicles, equipped with medium machine guns, while others carried members of the Lebanese Hezbollah.

A number of armored vehicles transported Fourth Division forces to the Mahin military warehouses east of Homs, the sources added.

“With this operation, the strategic Mahin warehouses, located east of Homs, became completely subject to the Iranian militias, the pro-Iran Fourth Division, and the Lebanese Hezbollah, following the withdrawal of the Russian forces,” the sources underlined, noting that the warehouses constitute one of the largest reserves of weapons and ammunition within a geographical area surrounded by mountains and valleys.

Over the past years, the strategic warehouses, which include about 25 fortified depots, have witnessed violent battles between the conflicting forces in Syria.

After the expansion of the influence of ISIS in the Syrian Badia between 2013 and 2015, the organization carried out a surprise attack during which it was able to control the warehouses. The regime forces later regained the area until the Russian intervention.

Russian and IRGC forces used the depots to store weapons and ammunition to support the military operations against ISIS in the Homs desert.



Gaza's Christians 'Heartbroken' for Pope Who Phoned them Nightly

A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Gaza's Christians 'Heartbroken' for Pope Who Phoned them Nightly

A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Members of Gaza's tiny Christian community said they were "heartbroken" on Monday at the death of Pope Francis, who campaigned for peace for the devastated enclave and spoke to them on the phone every evening throughout the war.

Across the wider Middle East, Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, praised Francis' constant engagement with them as a source of solace at a time when their communities faced wars, disasters, hardship and persecution.

"We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong. We lost a man who fought every day in every direction to protect this small herd of his," George Antone, 44, head of the emergency committee at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told Reuters.

Francis called the church hours after the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Antone said, the start of what the Vatican News Service would describe as a nightly routine throughout the war. He would make sure to speak not only to the priest but to everyone else in the room, Antone said.

"We are heartbroken because of the death of Pope Francis, but we know that he is leaving behind a church that cares for us and that knows us by name - every single one of us," Antone said, referring to the Christians of Gaza who number in the hundreds.

"He used to tell each one: I am with you, don't be afraid."

Francis phoned a final time on Saturday night, the pastor of the Holy Family parish, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, told the Vatican News Service.

"He said he was praying for us, he blessed us, and he thanked us for our prayers," Romanelli said.

The next day, in his last public statement on Easter, Francis appealed for peace in Gaza, telling the warring parties to "call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace".

'PEACE IN THIS LAND'

At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected, the superior of the Latin community, Father Stephane Milovitch, said Francis had stood for peace.

"We wish that peace will finally come very soon in this land and we wish the next pope will be able to help to have peace in Jerusalem and in all the world," he said.

In Lebanon, where a war between Israel and Hezbollah caused widespread casualties and extensive damage last year, sending millions from their homes, members of the Catholic Maronite community spoke of Francis' frequent mentions of their plight.

"He's a saint for us because he carried Lebanon and the Middle East in his heart, especially in the last period of war," said a priest in the southern Lebanese town of Rmeish, which was badly damaged during Israel's military campaign last year.

"We always felt he was very involved and he mobilized all the Catholic institutions and funds to help Lebanon throughout the crises that we went through," said Marie-Jo Dib, who works at a social foundation in Lebanon.

"He was a rebel and I really pray that the next pope will be like him," she added.

Francis made repeated trips to the Middle East, including to Iraq in 2021 where he learned that two suicide bombers had attempted to assassinate him in Mosul, a once cosmopolitan city where the ISIS terror group proclaimed a so-called caliphate from 2014-17.

He visited the ruins of four destroyed churches there and launched an appeal for peace.

In Syria, Archbishop Antiba Nicolas said he was holding mass at the historic Damascus Zaitoun church when he was handed a slip of paper with the news.

"He used to say 'dearest Syria' every time he spoke of Syria. He called on all international organisations to support Syria, the Christian presence and the church in Syria during the crisis in the past years," Nicolas said.