Iranian army division withdraws from Syria after losses

By Ahmet Dursun

ISTANBUL

The 25th Division of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (the "Karbala Brigade") has withdrawn from Syria, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported Wednesday.

The move comes a few days after an unspecified number of RGC troops were killed in clashes with anti-regime forces in the Syrian town of Khan Tuman southwest of Aleppo city.

Last week, Syrian anti-regime fighters said they had seized control of Khan Tuman following clashes with regime forces and Iranian troops.

Iran later said only 15 RGC personnel, including two senior commanders, had been killed in the fighting.

But according to local sources in Syria, at least 30 Iranian soldiers, eight Hezbollah militants, 20 Shia militiamen and 20 regime troops were killed in the clashes.

Iranian media has since described the military casualties sustained in the Khan Tuman clashes as a "catastrophe".

Shia Iran is a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has been fighting heavily-armed opposition forces since 2011.

For the past five years, Iranian troops, along with members of Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah group, have been fighting alongside regime forces in Syria.

According to Iranian media reports, more than 400 Iranian soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Syria since the conflict began in 2011.