Battle-hardened Shi’ites from Syria said to join fight in Iraq on orders from Iran

Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Thousands of Iranian-sponsored Shi’ite fighters have left Syria for Iraq.

Diplomatic sources said more than 3,000 members of Iranian-financed Shi’ite militias have moved from Syria to Iraq to help stop the advance of Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

Shiite tribal fighters raise their weapons and chant slogans against the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the east Baghdad neighborhood of Kamaliya, Iraq on June 15. /AP — Shi’ite tribal fighters raise their weapons and chant slogans against the ISIL in the east Baghdad neighborhood of Kamaliya on June 15. /AP

The sources said the flow of Shi’ites began in May and intensified during ISIL’s advance toward Baghdad during the following month.

“These are experienced fighters who know ISIL and its tactics,” a European diplomat said.

The Shi’ite fighter exodus was said to have been ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They said the Teheran regime appointed IRGC Quds Force commander Brig. Gen. Qassam Suleimani as head of operations for both Iraq and Syria.

It was not clear how many Iraqi Shi’ite fighters would be ordered to leave Syria. The sources said IRGC presided over some 40,000 fighters, about 20 percent of them from Hizbullah and the rest from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

But the sources said the Sunni rebels have sought to exploit the reduced
presence of Iranian proxies in Syria. In early June, Islamist and other
rebel militias joined in a massive assault on Rankous, located near the
border with Lebanon, and killed at least 11 Hizbullah troops.

The Iraqi Shi’ites were brought to Syria by IRGC in 2012. The sources
said the Shi’ites were recruited for a six-month tour that included bonuses
and a job in Iraq after their service.

Many of the Iraqis have fought in units for the Iranian-financed
and -trained National Defense Forces, with more than 80,000 fighters. The
Shi’ites gathered combat experience against rebel militias in western and
southern Syria.

“At this point, there has not been a significant effect on [Syrian
President Bashar] Assad’s war, but there is concern that Iran will bring out
a lot more Shi’ite fighters,” the diplomat said.

Battle-hardened Shi’ites from Syria said to join fight in Iraq on orders from Iran, Brig. Gen. Qassam Suleimani, IRGC, join fight against ISIL in Iraq, Quds Force

Battle-hardened Shi’ites from Syria said to join fight in Iraq on orders from Iran added by World Tribune on June 18, 2014
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