An explosive device was planted in the car of Khaled al-Janam, a militia leader known as the Lions of the East, who was not in the car. 

Local sources report that the attempt to assassinate/sign al-Ghanam comes as a result of a struggle and assassinations between militias affiliated with Iran on the one hand and Russia on the other in Deir ez-Zor.

The "Lions of the East" militia are tribal forces affiliated with the forces of the Syrian regime and subject to the influence of Iran. Recently quite a few senior local militias in Syria have been eliminated from both sides.