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.
With AFP
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