Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard killed fighting IS in Iraq – Tasnim
A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed fighting Islamic State west of the Iraqi city of Mosul, the Tehran-based Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
It is the first time Iran has announced the death of a senior commander during the operations launched in October to drive the Islamist militants out of Mosul.
“Commander Shaaban Nassiri was martyred in operations to free the area west of Mosul,” the Tasnim news agency quoted the Revolutionary Guards as saying.
The IRGC is the main backer of the Iraqi Shi’ite paramilitary force known as Popular Mobilisation, fighting Islamic State west of Mosul.
Nassiri was killed near Baaj, one of the last cities which remain under Islamic State control, near the Syrian border, according to Mashregh, an Iranian news website.
Baghdadi is believed to be hiding in this region, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. [L5N1GJ5YS]
Nassiri fought in the Iran-Iran war of 1980-1988 and has been involved in the six-year war in Syria, backing President Bashar al-Assad, according to Mashregh.
A general from the Revolutionary Guards assumed the post of Iran’s ambassador to Iraq in April, in a sign of the key role the military force is playing in its neighbouring country.