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Syrian shepherds killed in massacre blamed on Iranian militias and ISIS
[Jpost] Syrian activists blamed the attack on Iranian militias, while Syrian regime sources blamed it on ISIS.

Twenty-one shepherds were killed in a massacre on Sunday in the Ma'adan area of eastern Syria in an attack that Syrian activists blame on Iranian militias, according to the pan-Arab al-Quds al-Arabi news site. However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
 Syrian regime sources blamed the attack on ISIS.
Oh dear. How is a girl to choose?!
The event took place two days after IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
. Syrian Facebook pages and news sites quoted locals as saying that that the shepherds were killed in Dire Revenge for the liquidation of Soleimani.
That sure sounds like Iran’s pet Shiite paramilitaries...
Navvar Saban, a researcher from the Syrian Omran Centre for Strategic Studies, told al-Arabi that Iranian militias were likely responsible for the attack. Syrian Civil Defense worker and former journalist Asaad Hanna also blamed Iranian militias for the massacre.
Oh NOES, Herb! Simple, rustic, but well-armed goat herders were killed? Must be the US, right?
Syrian regime media blamed the massacre on ISIS, as ISIS cells operate in the surrounding desert, according to al-Arabi.
Could both groups have done mean things?
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 19 non-combatants were killed and five others were missing in the attack in the al-Sabkhah Desert in Raqqa by unknown assailants on Sunday. The victims were reportedly shot after being shackled.

According to the SOHR, the site of the attack is far away from where ISIS cells operate, but there are also no headquarters or centers of Syrian regime forces or militias nearby. The only military presence in the area are military convoys usually affiliated with the AL-Katerji militia. This militia was founded by Syrian businessman and politician Hossam al-Katerji, according to Rooters.

Multiple ISIS attacks on Iranian militias and regime forces were reported in recent days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that members of ISIS intensively shelled positions belonging to Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias in the Deir Ezzor area where Albukamal is located on Monday evening. Regime forces responded with heavy artillery and flares. It is unclear if the exchange of fire is connected to the earth-shattering kabooms reported by Deir Ezzor 24.

A bus carrying regime forces was ambushed on the International Highway in the Deir Ezzor area on Monday, according to SOHR. At least seven soldiers were killed and 14 others were maimed in the attack.

Last week, a number of IEDs planted by ISIS members went kaboom! on a highway in Deir Ezzor, injuring multiple soldiers. SOHR described the attack as part of ISIS's "continued growing activity" in the area.
An earlier Jerusalem Post article adds:
Explosions were heard in "areas controlled by Iranian militias" near Albukamal in eastern Syria near the Iraq-Syria border on Monday evening, according to local news source Deir Ezzor 24. The explosions were believed to be caused by rockets, although some reports indicated that an airstrike had targeted the area. The strong explosions were heard on the other side of the Euphrates River.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that members of ISIS intensively shelled positions belonging to Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias in the Deir Ezzor area where Albukamal is located on Monday evening. Regime forces responded with heavy artillery and flares. It is unclear if the exchange of fire is connected to the explosions reported by Deir Ezzor 24.

The SOHR reported on Sunday that Iran-backed militias had reportedly evacuated their headquarters in Albukamal and spread throughout orchards on the banks of the Euphrates River.
How very clever of them.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is reportedly seizing civilian houses in the Deir Ezzor area in eastern Syria.

The land crossing between Iraq and Syria at Albukamal that reopened in November was closed again on Monday, according to Deir Ezzor 24.
Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias fired three shells at the Conoco gas field in the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria on Sunday night. No casualties were reported in the Conoco attack.

Militias along the Iraq-Syria border have been high alert since the strike on Soleimani. An air strike reportedly struck an Iranian-militia base near the border within Syrian territory on Saturday night, according to Arab media.

Multiple people were injured and killed in the airstrike targeting a base belonging to the Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) along the Iraqi-Syrian border, according to Al Arabiya.

Three military vehicles were destroyed in an airstrike on Iranian-backed militias in Deir Ezzor in Syria along the border with Iraq, according to Deir Ezzor 24. The news site earlier reported a possible strike in Albukamal, which is home to a major Iranian base.

Earlier this week, a new Iranian-backed militia called the "al-Sayyida Zeinab Regiment," arrived in Albukamal along the Iraq-Syria border.
Noted. Not that these fake-nose-and-eyeglasses names indicate an actual new group, but it’s good to get it in the record anyway.
Multiple airstrikes have targeted Iranian forces and militias in eastern Syria in the past few months. A strategic border crossing between Iraq and Syria and the Iranian-controlled Imam Ali military base is located in the border town of Al-Bukamal.

Several large explosions in Salhia, just north of Bukamal
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: trailing wife 2020-01-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=560390