TEHRAN (FNA)- A top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed in clashes in Central Syria last night, bringing the number of IRGC casualties in the war-torn country in the last couple of days to 8.Brigadier General Reza Khavari, the senior commander of IRGC’s Fatemiyoun Division, was martyred in clashes with Takfiri terrorists in the Northern parts of the province of Hama, Central Syria, Thursday night while fulfilling his duty as a military adviser.
A sum of 7 other IRGC members, mostly from Ansar Corps, have been martyred in Syria in the last two days. Amin Karimi, a member of the IRGC’s Ansar Corps, has also been named among those killed in the last couple of days, although his military rank is not known.
IRGC Public Relations Chief General Ramezan Sharif told FNA on Friday evening that the IRGC has boosted the number of its advisors in Syria in recent days following government troops’ striking victories in multiple fronts across the nation.
Ramezan Sharif confirmed the 8 casualties sustained by the IRGC in Syria in the last several days.
Asked why the IRGC casualties in Syria are mostly ranking officers, he said Iran does not have combat troops in Syria and has only sent advisors to help the Muslim nation, who provide counseling services and strategies to the Syrian army commanders in the battlefield and from a very close range to the forefront. He reminded that low-ranking officers are not fit for such a vital job.
Earlier today it was revealed that the bodyguard of Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been one of the latest IRGC casualties in in Syria.
Abdollah Baqeri Niyaraki was martyred while fulfilling his duty as military advisor in Syria’s Northern province of Aleppo.
Baqeri Niyaraki was an IRGC commander who served as a bodyguard of former President Ahmadinejad for some time. Niyaraki was a member of IRGC’s Ansar Corps.
His martyrdom came after three other IRGC war veteran commanders were killed during attacks by the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Syria.
On October 13, two IRGC commanders, providing military counseling services to the Syrian forces in their fight against the Takfiri terrorists, were killed in Southern Syria.
Colonel Farshad Hasounizadeh, the former commander of IRGC’s Saberin Special Brigade, was martyred while fulfilling his duty as military adviser in Syria and fighting the Takfiri terrorists in the Muslim country.
Also, the former commander of IRGC Hazrat Hojjat 1 Brigade Hajj Hamid Mokhtar-band, nicknamed Abu Zahra, was killed in Syria.
Both Hasounizadeh and Mokhtar-band were IRGC war veterans and were martyred in Southern Syria. According to Iran’s military rules, those missed or killed in operation are promoted to a higher rank and that’s why in a few Persian-language sources, Colonel Hasounizadeh has been referred to as a General.
A few days earlier, a top IRGC commander Brigadier General Hossein Hamadani was martyred during an attack by the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in the outskirts of the city of Aleppo.
General Hamadani was in Syria to render military advice to the Syrian army and popular forces in their fight against the ISIL terrorists in the Arab country.
In September 2014, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Gholam Ali Rashid announced that Iran’s military advisors are present in the friendly regional states to provide those nations with necessary military recommendations.
“Some of our commanders are in the field to give military advice to the Iraqi army, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance movement,” Major General Rashid said, addressing a conference attended by a group of senior military commanders in Tehran.