Syria. Who is hunting Iranian generals?

Mortar shelling the Russian embassy last Tuesday did not go unanswered. As Russian war correspondents A. Kots and D. Steshin report from the front line, the mines could have been fired from the neighboring Jobar region, and on Wednesday it came under a massive attack by government forces, using aircraft, tanks and artillery.

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It seems that Assad decided to heed the statement of American diplomats, who believe that the blame for the shelling of the Russian Embassy lies with his government, which must guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats.

Jobar area after the 2013 fighting

Jobar area after the 2014 fighting

Jobar is an area in the East of Damascus located between the old city and the ring road. There was once a Jewish settlement here, which contained one of the oldest synagogues known to us and other historical monuments. After the Arab-Israeli conflict, many Palestinian refugees began to settle in the area, who at the very beginning of the unrest in Syria were the most active part of the anti-government protests.

Map of Damascus with Jobar district

Back in February 2013, militants breaking through from the east to the center of the capital called Jobar “the key to Damascus,” and a year ago government troops already attempted to take control of the area. The current assault continues the line of clearing out individual enclaves not controlled by the government, taken by the Syrian command after the start of Russian air strikes against the Islamists.

Jobar District

No less fierce fighting is taking place north of Damascus, in the area of ​​the city of Hama. The day before, reports emerged that two high-ranking commanders of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brigadier General Hamid Mukhtarband and Major General Fershat Hasunizadeh, had been killed there in a battle with IS. A few days earlier, on the outskirts of Hama, Hussein al-Hajj, also known as Abu Muhammad Iklim, one of the leaders of the Iranian Shiite group Hezbollah, which has been involved in the conflict on the side of Bashar al-Assad since 2013, died on the outskirts of Hama.

aleppo

Such losses among the senior command gave rise to rumors that not everything is so simple with the death of Iranian military leaders. Rumors spread that General Hossein Hamedani killed On October 8, north of Aleppo, he died not in battle with terrorists, but fell victim to internal strife. Allegedly, he had a serious conflict with his immediate superior, the commander of the Al-Quds Brigade, Qassem Soleimani, who himself recently miraculously survived a kamikaze attack in Iraq. A photo of Soleimani taken in northwestern Syria in the province of Latakia appeared on social networks, where he speaks in front of a formation of people in uniform, presumably Iranian soldiers.

Soleimani during a visit to Iraq.

Whether this is true or not is unknown, but two weeks ago the Reuters agency, citing its sources, reported the transfer of Iranian ground forces to the Aleppo area, and the death of Hamedani confirmed this information. And today Reuters again has information about the plans of the Iranian command in the region. According to the agency, the decision on a large-scale offensive on Aleppo has already been made, and it should probably be expected after the completion of the operation in the area north of Hama, where Russian aircraft have been actively conducting missile and bomb attacks in recent days.