Iran-backed Afghan militia builds largest Shia shrine in Syria’s Palmyra

The pro-Iran Afghan Shia Fatemiyoun Brigade on Sunday resumed the construction of the Husseiniya Aal Al-Bayt Shia congregational hall in the Syrian city of Palmyra.

The Ein Al-Furat website said the militia received financial support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to complete the construction of the Shia shrine after construction came to a halt in the middle of last month due to a lack of funding.

The site added that the shrine consists of three floors, with a section designated for performing rituals, and another for cultural and ideological references as well as an office to register the marriages of militiamen and their families.

The site pointed out that the shrine is one of the largest in areas controlled by Iranian militias in the Syrian desert.

READ: Keeping Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra alive through art

Last week, local sources said the Harakat Al-Nujaba militia, another militia backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, had converted a house it seized in the city of Maadan in Raqqa countryside into a Husseiniya.

Over the past few years, Iran has expanded its control over a number of Syrian cities and provinces and gave priority to the militias affiliated with it over the Syrian regime’s authority.