Iran suffers biggest loss in Syria

Iran suffers biggest loss in Syria

Saturday, May 7, 2016 6:14 pm


Iranian troops

Iranian troops

Islamist militants killed 13 Iranian soldiers today in a battle over a village near the Syrian city of Aleppo, Tehran said on Saturday.

It was Iran’s biggest loss in a single-day since it sent forces to support President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia meanwhile said that a truce in Aleppo itself had been extended until Monday.

Islamist forces seized Khan Touman village, about 15 km (9 miles) southwest of Aleppo, on Friday and dozens of people were reported to have been killed in the fighting.

The attack was launched by an alliance of Islamist insurgents known as Jaish al-Fatah, including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Iran’s Fars news agency quoted a Revolutionary Guards official as saying that 13 Iranian military advisors had been killed and 21 wounded.

Jaish al-Fatah and affiliates posted videos and photos on social media of what appeared to be the bodies of Iranians or Shi’ite militiamen who were killed in Khan Touman. They included footage of wallets, personal documents and Iranian currency.

Iran, along with Russia, has been a principle ally of Assad in the five-year-old civil war, while Gulf Arab states and the West have supported various rebel factions. The Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah movement has also been operating in Syria against the rebels.

A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader on Saturday reiterated Tehran’s continued support of Assad in a meeting with the president in Damascus.


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