Iran regime deploys 60,000 IRGC forces and foreign mercenaries in Syria

6 February 2016 - Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of IRGC, speaks at a burial ceremony for high ranking commanders killed in Syria,

NCRI- The Iranian regime’s massive campaign of dispatching forces to Syria from the beginning of 2016 has now gained new dimensions and the number of Revolutionary Guards and their non-Iranian mercenaries have doubled, reaching 60,000 in total. This troop deployment crusade follows the failure of the Iranian regime’s so-called “Moharram” plan executed in the final 3 months of 2015. According to this blueprint the Iranian regime, in coordination with Russia, sought to defeat the Free Syrian Army, especially in Aleppo, and occupy the city while enjoying air cover under vicious airstrikes.

1. Currently the number of IRGC soldiers, mainly from the IRGC Ground Forces and the terrorist Quds Force, has reached 8,000 troops. The IRGC unit in each Iranian province is obligated to dispatch two battalions to Syria in three month rotations, after they are scheduled to be replaced by another such unit.

2. The number of criminal Iraqi militias in Syria has increased to 20,000. These forces are comprised of groups such as the “Al-Nojaba Movement”, the “Badr Corps”, “Asaeb Ahl al-Haq”, “Katayeb Hezbollah”, “Imam Ali Battalions”, “Abolfazl Brigade”, “Khorassani Brigades” and … All these groups have been formed and are controlled by the Iranian regime. These forces are transferred from the Shalamcheh border region to the city of Abadan in southwest Iran, and each day more are dispatched to Damascus in three flights. In the past three weeks 3,000 Iraqi militias have been dispatched to Syria. The paychecks of these troops are provided by the Iraqi government and Quds Force.

3. According to reports obtained from inside Iran, during this period the number of Iraqi and Afghan mercenaries in Syria have doubled, and the number of Pakistani mercenaries have also increased significantly.

4. The Syrian army has had no participation in the battles of the past 10 days in northern Aleppo and all the fighting is being carried out by the IRGC and their Afghan and Iraqi mercenaries. Currently, a portion of the IRGC Ground Forces are stationed in the Iran-linked Jame’at al-Mostafa University in the city of Nabal.

5. Hundreds of IRGC and foreign mercenaries have been killed or wounded in the battles of the past 10 days in Aleppo. Three IRGC brigadier generals by the names of Reza Farzaneh, former commander of the so-called 27th Mohammad Rasoulollah Division; Hossein Rezaie, a commander of the so-called 14th Imam Hossein Division from Isfahan; and Sattar Orang, an IRGC commander from Kohgiluyeh & Boyer Ahmad Province were seen amongst those killed in the past few days.

6. Following the occupation of the city of Nabal by IRGC forces, Quds Force chief Qassem Suleimani was transferred to Syria and on February 5 he was seen in this city to lift the spirits of IRGC forces and portray a scene as if he has been present in the recent battles. However, he was immediately returned to Iran. Suleimani was never present in Syria after being wounded back in November 2015 in battles south of Aleppo.

7. The Iranian regime’s wounded troops in Syria are transferred to Tehran’s Baghiyatollah, Neekan and Laleh hospitals. Alireza Jalali, Director of the IRGC Baghiyatollah Hospital in an interview on February 7 said 1,504 men wounded in Syria, including 425 Iranians and 1,079 foreigners, have been transferred to the so-called Hamedani clinic. The wounded Afghan mercenaries were first transferred to sections 5 and 6 of Baghiyatollah Hospital with a capacity of 100 beds. Due to the lack of adequate space, these individuals received initial medical care and were then transferred to the Depo Garrison (known as Kheir al-Hafezeen) located in the Shahriar intersection. This facility lacks even the most basic supplies and the wounded have been literally abandoned there.