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Intermittent clashes erupted between the National Defense (ND) militia and a group belonging to Ahmad Batous on the background of a disagreement about sharing scrap looted from the al-Sina’a neighborhood in the city of Deir Ezzor.
Batous is the most prominent trader of scrap and copper looted from al-Sina’a. He is influential in Deir Ezzor and belongs to the ND militia. He has strong relations with the Assad regime’s agents in Deir Ezzor, as they receive a share of what he gains in return for giving a blind eye to his practices.
.Assad regime militias have been looting civilians’ property in the Assad regime-controlled areas for years.