Syria: Iran-Backed Militia Arrive to Help Assad Fight Insurgency
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – As Syria’s army struggles to fend off the surprise insurgency launched last week by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Iran-backed militias entered the country on Sunday to lend support to the Syrian forces, Reuters reports. The insurgents first attacked Syria’s second-largest city of Aleppo and then moved into Idlib and Hama province.
Iran has long been an ally of Syrian dictator President Bashar Assad and sent thousands of Shiite fighters to help him regain lost territory at the height of the Syrian civil war which began in 2011. The current insurgency is part of the broader longterm conflict with various factions vying for control of the war-torn country.
In a statement to Reuters, a Syrian army officer said dozens of Iran-aligned Iraqi Hashd al Shaabi fighters from Iraq had crossed into Syria through a military route near Al Bukamal crossing on Sunday night. “These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Assad in Damascus on Sunday to confirm Tehran’s ongoing support for his regime.“I clearly announced full-fledged support to President Assad, government, army, and people of Syria by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Araghchi said.
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