Clashes between pro-Assad and Iran-backed militias leave 85 dead

Pro-Assad Shabiha militias and Iran-backed Shiite militias are clashing in Syria’s Aleppo. As a result of the conflict, 85 people were killed and 110 others injured.

The Assad regime has not intervened in the fighting. Former spokesman for Free Syrian Army (FSA) faction Jaish al-Mujahideen Zekeriya Mollahafchi described the clashes as an unofficial fight of demographics between Iran and Russia.

The FSA controlled 65 percent of Aleppo for five years. Claims emerged that the clashes were a result of the groups being unable to share the areas FSA withdrew from.

Assad has promised the property of the opposition to the foreign fighters, Mollahafchi said.

Law No. 10 of 2018, passed by the Syrian government on April 2, 2018, allows the regime to confiscate and redevelop residents’ property without due process or compensation.

The law essentially legalized looting and created a major obstacle for displaced residents to return home.

The controversial law, however, was rescinded, Jan Egeland, an advisor to Special UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura, said Thursday.

Egeland said he was informed of the news by Russia, a staunch ally of Bashar Al Assad.