Baladi News - Ahmed Abdul Haq
After a short calm, battles have recently increased in intensity between the rebels on the one hand, and the Shiite Iranian, Iraqi, and Afghani militias on the other hand in Aleppo southern countryside. After liberating the strategic town of Khan Touman, the rebels changed their defensive strategy to attack the Shiite militias, which resulted in gaining more towns and villages during the recent battles. These battles resulted in killing, wounding, and capturing dozens of Shiite militants, particularly during the battles of al-Qarrasi and Khalsa, which took place on Thursday in Aleppo southern countryside.
Iranian media sources admitted that new Iranian casualties resulted during recent battles in Aleppo southern country side in Syria, including a senior military officer, 2nd class leaders, and soldiers. Among those killed were colonel “Haj Ali Mansouri” and field commander “Mahdi Nazeri”, in addition to militants from the Afghani Fatemiyoun Brigade and the Iraqi Harakat al-Nujaba militia, which were escorted in the Iranian city of Qom.
Last week alone, a colonel and three militants, including a leader, from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard militia were killed, which raises the number of Iranian soldiers killed in Syria to 275 since October 2015.
A field commander in Jaysh al-Fatah, the strongest rebel group in Syria, told Baladi News that 120 Shiite militants were killed in a suicide attack in Khalsa, meanwhile 60 others were killed during the battle of liberating al-Qarrasi and al-Humaira villages on Thursday. Most of the casualties were affiliated with Harakat al-Nujaba militia, from which 6 militants were also captured during the recent battles according to the speaker.
It is worth mentioning that Iranian media recent announcements came after imposing blackouts for months, which reflects restlessness and fear among Iranian militias due to their recent heavy casualties in Aleppo countryside, which became a land of inevitable death for them.