PHOTO: Fighters of the rebel group Liwa al-Haq with a captured Humvee south of Aleppo
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Syria & Iraq Audio Analysis: The Islamic State, Security, and Intelligence
Syria’s rebels claimed on Monday that they inflicted heavy losses on the Assad regime’s Iranian, Hezbollah, and Iraqi allies on the front south on Aleppo.
The rebels and the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra have been under pressure for weeks on the front, with the foreign-led regime offensive taking the town of al-Hadher and villages as it closes on the Aleppo-to-Damascus highway.
However, since last week, the rebels have prevented the attackers from reaching the highway, and yesterday they say the foreign forces paid a high price for their efforts. Pro-opposition journalist Hadi al-Abdallah claimed on Twitter:
Southern #Aleppo battles today:
35 regime-allied Irani/Iraqi/Lebanese fighters killed (+officers), BMP/armored cars captured, tank destroyed
— هادي العبد الله (@HadiAlabdallah) November 16, 2015
Activists said that among those killed was another Iranian general, Masoud Akbari, who would be the eighth commander from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to die since the start of the Syrian military’s offensives on October 7.
However, the reports may have exaggerated the confirmed death of Guards officer Masoud Asghari, whose funeral was featured in the Iranian outlet Tasnim:
At least 57 Iranian troops have been killed since early October.
The deaths of two other Iranian fighters were confirmed by Fars News on Monday.
Jabhat al-Nusra posted footage which included captured vehicles such as two US-made Humvees used by Iraqi militia.
Iran Official: We Have Not Sent Troops to Syria
Despite the mounting death toll among Iranian troops, a top official in the Islamic Republic insisted on Monday that no ground forces have been sent to Syria.
The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said Iran “has not and does not want” to send fighters because Syrians “are defending their own homeland and do not have a problem”.
The funeral of Revolutionary Guards fighter Mostafa Mousavi, killed near Aleppo on November 12:
Shamkhani also denied any division between Tehran and Russia over their political positions, with both advocating early Presidential and Parliamentary elections: “In this regard, Moscow has no divergence in opinion with Iran.”
Claims have circulated that, while Iran is insisting on President Assad remaining in power, the Russians are willing for him to step aside if the Syrian regime does not fall.
Video: Girl Rescued from Destroyed Building in Douma
Men rescue a girl from a building destroyed by a regime strike on Douma near Damascus:
The Syrian military has besieged and bombarded Douma for years and has killed hundreds of civilians since the summer.
In the footage, the girl curses the people who carried out the attack and then asks if her mother, sister, and brother have been rescued. She is assured they are all safe.
The girl thanks God then curses President al-Assad and asks where her father is. Her uncle says he will come soon.
