Iran buries 7 Afghan fighters killed in Syria

KABUL (Pajhwok): The bodies of seven Afghan fighters killed in Syria fighting the ISIL were buried in Iran’s Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province, media reports on Friday.

The IRNA news agency reported that on the same day, the body of an Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) force, who was killed in Iraq’s Samarra, was buried in Langarud, Guilan province.

It said that since the start of the Iranian-calendar month of Esfand (Feb. 20), 12 Iranian and Afghan forces killed in Syria have been buried in Iran.

The people buried on Thursday were identified as Alireza Tavassoli, Reza Bakhshi, Nematollah Najafi, Javid Yousefi, Hossein Hosseini, Mahmoud Hakimi, and Qasem Sadat.

It is reported that Tavassoli, nicknamed Abu Hamed, was the commander of the Fatemiyoun Brigade and Bakhshi, nicknamed Fateh, was the second-in-command of the brigade.

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that Iran is granting thousands of Afghan refugees in the country residence as well as $500 monthly allowances hiring them to fight in Syria. A Feb. 16 report said at least 20 IRGC members had been killed in Syria up to that point.

Iran is a close ally of the Syrian government and has always shown its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian rebels claim that Iranian military forces are fighting against them, while Iran dismisses the claims saying that Iran only has advisors in Syria, to transfer its military experience to the Syrian army.

PAN/Monitor/rm