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Iranian General Is Killed in Syria Advising Military ISIS Makes Gains in Syria Territory Bombed by Russia
(about 7 hours later)
TEHRAN — A prominent Iranian general was killed in Syria Thursday night, Iranian officials and state media reported on Friday. His death illustrated both the level of Iran’s direct involvement on the government side in the Syrian civil war, and the pervasive violence of the conflict. BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Islamic State registered significant gains Friday in the area of northwestern Syria that Russian warplanes have been bombing heavily, taking six villages near Aleppo and threatening to cut off an important route north to the Turkish border. Late in the day, there were reports that rebels had reasserted control in one of the villages.
The general, Hussein Hamedani, a senior figure in the Revolutionary Guards, was killed in Aleppo Province, where he was advising the Syrian military, the reports said. The Iranian state news outlet Press TV reported, citing a statement by the Revolutionary Guards, that General Hamedani had been killed by Islamic State fighters, but did not say how he died. The Kremlin has said its military had entered Syria to fight the Islamic State, but to date the Russian forces have concentrated much of their firepower on insurgent groups aligned against President Bashar al-Assad, including the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, and relatively secular groups like the Free Syrian Army. Rival insurgents say that the Islamic State, also called ISIS or Daesh, is taking advantage.
The general’s death prompted an outpouring of grief from Iran’s leaders, who have been steadily sending high-ranking military figures to Syria. In a public message of condolence, President Hassan Rouhani praised General Hamedani as a “martyr” and said his death was a “big loss.” Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister, issued a similar message. “Daesh has exploited the Russian airstrikes and the preoccupation of the Free Syrian Army in its battles in Hama, and advanced in Aleppo,” one rebel commander with fighters in the region told Reuters.
Esmail Kowsari, a member of Parliament, told the Tasnim news agency that the general “prevented the fall of Syria and the victory of the Daesh and other hostile forces,” referring to the Islamic State by an Arabic acronym for the group. The Islamic State advance is threatening a strategic area north of Aleppo on the way to crossing points into Turkey that was to be part of a proposed ISIS-free buffer zone under a plan the United States announced over the summer with Turkey; that plan now seems to have stalled.
General Hamedani was a top commander during the Iran-Iraq war, and led the crackdown against antigovernment protests that erupted after the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was the target of international sanctions. The state news agency IRNA reported that a public memorial ceremony for the general would be held on Sunday. A prominent Iranian general was killed in Syria on Thursday night, Iranian officials and state news media reported on Friday, illustrating the level of Iran’s direct involvement on the government side in the Syrian civil war.
Iran has been providing an economic lifeline and intensive military assistance to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whose forces have been locked in a protracted civil war in which more than 250,000 people have died and millions more have been driven from their homes or fled the country. The general, Hussein Hamedani, a senior figure in the Revolutionary Guards, was killed in Aleppo Province, where he was advising the Syrian military, the reports said. The Iranian state news outlet Press TV, citing a statement by the Revolutionary Guards, reported that General Hamedani had been killed by Islamic State fighters, but did not say how.
Iranian advisers have been aiding the Syrian government on a number of fronts. They have helped train tens of thousands of fighters in a new pro-government militia called the National Defense Forces; they have provided strategic, tactical and political advice; and they have taken important roles in key negotiations, including a deal last year to evacuate rebels from the besieged Old City section of Homs. Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia closely allied with Iran, has also fought pivotal battles on the side of the government. General Hamedani was a top commander during the Iran-Iraq war and led the crackdown against antigovernment protests that erupted after the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Another prominent Revolutionary Guards officer, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, was killed in Syria in January, after reportedly taking part in a mission along with 12 other fighters close to the border with Israel. Iran has been providing an economic lifeline and intensive military assistance to the Assad government, whose forces have been locked in a protracted civil war in which more than 250,000 people have died and millions more have been driven from their homes or fled the country.
Iranian advisers have helped train tens of thousands of fighters in a new pro-government militia called the National Defense Forces, provided strategic, tactical and political advice and taken important roles in key negotiations, including a deal last year to evacuate rebels from the besieged Old City section of Homs. Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia closely allied with Iran, has also fought pivotal battles on the side of the government.
Another prominent Revolutionary Guards officer, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, was killed in Syria in January, reportedly after taking part in a mission along with 12 other fighters close to the border with Israel.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group with extensive contacts in Syria, said General Hamedani was killed along with several bodyguards on Thursday near the Kweiris military airport east of Aleppo. Aircraft based there are often used to bomb Al Bab, a city held by Islamic State militants.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group with extensive contacts in Syria, said General Hamedani was killed along with several bodyguards on Thursday near the Kweiris military airport east of Aleppo. Aircraft based there are often used to bomb Al Bab, a city held by Islamic State militants.
The battle lines in and around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, are complicated, with control contested among government forces and rival insurgent groups. On the city’s outskirts there are some battle lines where the fighters of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, are battling the government, and others where they are fighting other rebel groups. The battle lines in and around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, are complicated, with control contested among government forces and rival insurgent groups. On the city’s outskirts there are some battle lines where Islamic State fighters are battling the government, and others where they are fighting other rebel groups.
Despite airstrikes against the Islamic State by the American-led coalition and the Russians, its fighters have been gaining ground from rival insurgents northeast of Aleppo. They seized four villages and an infantry-school building on Friday after hitting their rivals’ positions with car bombs, according to antigovernment activists. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in social media postings, calling the rival insurgents infidels. Despite airstrikes against the Islamic State by the American-led coalition and the Russians, its fighters have been gaining ground from rival insurgents northeast of Aleppo. They advanced Friday in a blaze of car bombs, antigovernment activists said.
One of the car bombings killed Saleh Mahmoud Leyla, a Syrian journalist working for Turkey’s state-run news agency, Anadolu, according to the agency. Mr. Leyla, who had also been an antigovernment activist, frequently covered news developments in insurgent-held areas of Syria. Dozens of Syrian journalists have lost their lives in the conflict. One of the bombs killed Saleh Mahmoud Leyla, a Syrian journalist working for Turkey’s state-run news agency, Anadolu, according to the agency. Mr. Leyla, who had also been an antigovernment activist, frequently covered news developments in insurgent-held areas of Syria. Dozens of Syrian journalists have lost their lives in the conflict.
Some antigovernment activists have accused Mr. Assad’s ally, Russia, of strengthening the Islamic State by mounting airstrikes in recent days against an anti-ISIS rebel group called Suqour al-Jabal, or Falcons of the Mountain. Mr. Assad and the Russians have called all of the government’s opponents terrorists and have brushed aside any distinctions among them. Jalal Zein al-Din, the pen name of a Syrian journalist working in an ISIS-held area of Aleppo province, said that the advance was aided by the United States’ insistence on removing the Nusra Front from the area and leaving only groups the West was willing to deal with. He said the Free Syrian Army could not hold off the Islamic State by itself.
The Islamic State advance in Aleppo Province has squeezed rival insurgents between its fighters and the government’s lines, forcing them to flee. Some antigovernment activists have accused Mr. Assad’s ally, Russia, of strengthening the Islamic State by mounting airstrikes in recent days against an anti-ISIS rebel group called Suqour al-Jabal, or Falcons of the Mountain. Mr. Assad and the Russians call all of the government’s opponents terrorists and have brushed aside any distinctions among them.
Sajid, an antigovernment activist in the area of the fighting, said that if the drive by the Islamic State succeeded, “the revolution will be extinguished in northern Aleppo province.”
“We are being drained,” said Sajid, who would not give his full name, for security reasons. “We are stuck between the two, Daesh and the regime.”
The day before, he said, American warplanes had flown “over our areas without bombing.”
“This is ridiculous!” he said. “Four coalition planes, flying but doing nothing, and Daesh was advancing. They are making fun of us.”
He said civilians were fleeing the villages taken over by the Islamic State and coming to his village of Tal Rifaat, and that ISIS fighters were just a few miles away. But he said insurgents had decided “not to leave — either dead or alive.”
He and several other antigovernment activists said that the insurgents — mostly factions that consider themselves part of the Free Syrian Army — had lost at least 10 fighters in the battle.