Iran loses 10 generals, over 2,500 fighters in Syria

LOS ANGELES, United States (Kurdistan24) – Iran has lost thousands of fighters and 10 generals in Syria’s civil war while siding with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a report noted.

Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, citing the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, reported that so far 2,603 Shia fighters under Iranian command have lost their lives in Syrian battlefields.

Iran has ordered several thousand Iranian, Afghan, Lebanese, and Pakistani troops to combat Syrian opposition and the Islamic State (IS) while also trying to expand its regional power.

The report broke down the 2,603 casualties as 511 actual Iranians, 1,045 Hezbollah fighters, and 1,047 Afghan, Pakistani, and other Shia militia fighters – all under Iranian command.

Iran, who hid its engagement at the beginning of the Syrian civil war breakout in 2011, is now airing a show during Iranian New Year to celebrate its “martyred” soldiers in Syria.

Presenting its interference in Syria as a holy war to defend the Zeinab Shrine in Damascus, a documentary called “From Heaven” is aired on the 13-day holiday of Newroz.

Activists said Iran’s losses in Syria were higher than reported. For years, funerals of the fallen foreign fighters were kept from the public in the country.

Recently, Iranian authorities glorified the martyred soldiers in Syria and did not hide the fact many Afghan immigrants were sent to the battlefield.

Last month, the Tehran municipality held a ceremony commemorating fallen Afghan fighters in Syria.

Recently, Pakistan banned an NGO that was recruiting Shia youth to be hired by Iran and fight in Syria.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany