Top Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi has blamed the United States and Israel for the recent rise in the activities of militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group in northern Syria, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
According to the statement, in a phone call with Acting Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Araghchi "described the recent rise in the activities of terrorist groups in Syria as a result of a US-Israeli plan to create instability in the region following the Israeli regime’s defeat by resistance [forces]."
Earlier, the Syrian Armed Forces command issued a statement, saying that Jabhat al-Nusra militants had carried out "a large-scale attack on a broad front" in the country’s north. According to the military command, terrorists attempted offensive operations "against villages and towns protected by the Syrian army, as well as against military facilities," and they continue attacking the positions of government troops.
Jihadists and their allies cut a major highway linking the main cities of Damascus and Aleppo on Thursday after launching an offensive against government forces in Syria's northwest, a war monitor said. "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions cut off the Damascus-Aleppo international M5 highway.
ReplyDeleteA general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in Syria on Thursday during fighting between Syrian government forces and opposition groups, an Iranian news agency reported.
ReplyDeleteTehran has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war that broke out in 2011, sending thousands of fighters to Syria.