More Iranian ground troops, under the elite Quds Forces’ commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, have arrived to support Russian airstrikes in Syria and recapture territory from U.S.-backed rebels there, defense officials said Thursday, according to a published report.
Lebanese Hezbollah forces will arrive in Syria as well, sources disclosed. Hezbollah, an ally of Russia and Iran, has fought to preserve President Bashar Assad’s rule during Syria’s brutal ongoing civil war.
Soleimani and Russian President Vladimir Putin met late July and discussed Russian operations in Syria.
“It has always been understood in [the Pentagon] that the Russians would provide the air force, and the Iranians would provide the ground force in Syria,” one official told Fox News.
“We have been well aware of Iran’s support for Assad over the past few years, including support through arms, personnel, and funding,” Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Cmdr. Elissa Smith told the Washington Examiner.
Russian airstrikes in Homs, Syria, Thursday targeted U.S.-backed rebels. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes targeted Tajamu Alezzah, a U.S.-backed group. Khaled Khoja, president of the Syrian National Council, an anti-Assad group, said that none of the four areas Russia targeted contained Islamic State fighters. Khoja said at least 36 people had been killed by the Wednesday airstrikes, including five children.
Russia “risks implicating itself in war crimes,” Khoja said on Wednesday. “Russia is not fighting [the Islamic State]. It is using its military force to support the Assad regime’s war against civilians.”
From the Kremlin, Putin denied the reports, calling them “information attacks” and reiterating that Russia was targeting the Islamic State.
Over 600 Russian troops are inside Syria and 28 Russian fighter jets were seen by satellite imaging at Latakia air base, an Assad stronghold, Jane’s reported. In recent weeks, Russia has sent weapons, portable housing units, military advisers, artillery and about a half dozen tanks to the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of Assad.
