Senior Iran Revolutionary Guard commander killed on Iraqi-Syrian border

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) commander was killed during clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants in eastern Syria, Iranian media reported on Friday.

Brigadier Shahrkh Dayi Pur, who was from the city of Kermanshah (Kermashan), was killed in Albu Kamal while fighting the jihadist group, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency. The city is located on the border with Iraq.

Dayi Pur served in the Iranian navy and as a military commander during the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.

He was one of Iran's military leaders who trained Hezbollah militia fighters, according to Iranian news agencies. He also specialized in missile training.

Over the past few years, Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias (PMF) in Iraq and Syria have battled IS on multiple front lines. Iran’s support has played a key role in helping Damascus to retain power in the past eight years of bloody civil war in Syria, in which many countries in the region and around the world have been involved.

On June 18, dozens of militants loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were killed and wounded near Albu Kamal following airstrikes widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, but which have also been blamed on the United States. As many as 52 PMF fighters were also claimed to have been killed in the attack.

Editing by John J. Catherine