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Military officer killed in Syria

13 April 2016 22:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. An Iranian Special Forces officer was killed in fighting in Syria’s northwestern Aleppo province, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.

According to the news agency, Capt. Hamdullah Bashende of Iran’s 65th Army Brigade was killed in fierce clashes that broke out in southern Aleppo.

Earlier this week, another three Iranian military personnel were reportedly killed in clashes between Syrian regime forces and armed Syrian groups that are not adhering to a month-and-a-half-old cease-fire.

On Monday, Iranian media reported that a Special Forces officer from the 65th Army Brigade and two members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps had been killed.

Last week, Ali Arasteh, deputy coordinator of the Iranian army, announced that forces from the 65th Brigade had been dispatched to Syria to serve as "advisers".

In recent years, Iranian military personnel -- along with fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah group -- have been fighting in Syria to support the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Iran has lost a number of military personnel to the ongoing conflict, including several commanders, although Tehran officially denies any military involvement in Syria.

Iran usually claims its slain soldiers were in the country to serve as "volunteers", describing RGC personnel killed in the conflict as "retired soldiers" or "advisers".

According to the UN, more than 250,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in early 2011 between pro-Assad forces -- including Hezbollah -- and heavily-armed opposition groups.