Iranian troops reportedly massing near Aleppo, Syria

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Special to WorldTribune.com

Iran has deployed hundreds of troops to back a Syrian ground offensive near the city of Aleppo, reports say.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the Iranian head of an influential parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, left, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Oct. 15. /AP
Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head and Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, in Damascus on Oct. 15. /AP

A senior U.S. defense official and Syrian activists said on Oct. 14 that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) troops had arrived in Latakia and were massing near Aleppo.

The U.S. defense official said the Iranian forces and Syrian troops, backed by Russian air strikes, are expected to soon begin a ground operation against anti-Assad regime rebels.

The Syrian regime has denied the reports and some Syrian rebels have said that Shi’ite militia fighters from Iraq who are backed by Iran were deployed around Aleppo.

Iran continues to deny it has deployed soldiers in Syria, saying that all Iranian personnel in Syria are there as military advisers.

According to the U.S. defense officials, Russian warships in the Caspian Sea fired at least 25 cruise missiles at targets in the Aleppo area ahead of the upcoming ground offensive.

Moscow has insisted that most of its strikes have been against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). The terror group, however, has little presence in Aleppo.

Iranian troops have also been deployed in Hama province, near Bashar Assad’s stronghold of Latakia, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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