عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran Announces Death of Soleimani's Guard in Southern Aleppo

Asghar Pashapour
Asghar Pashapour
TT
TT

Iran Announces Death of Soleimani's Guard in Southern Aleppo

Asghar Pashapour
Asghar Pashapour

Member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force Asghar Pashapour was announced killed in Aleppo’s battles on Sunday, according to Iranian sources.

Tehran’s militia participation in the attack on Idlib was confirmed in line with the Iranian Foreign Ministry's support for Damascus.

Sources said Pashapour was close to slain Commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad early January.

According to the Iranian Television Agency, he was killed “in confrontations with militant groups.”

His military rank in the IRGC was not revealed, but information indicates that he has accompanied Soleimani in Syria since the beginning of the war between the regime forces and the Syrian opposition factions.

IRGC intelligence agency’s Mashreq website has described Pashapour as “the man who was always concerned about Soleimani's life” and published a picture of them both gathered with other fighters at a site in Syria.

Young Journalists Club (YJC) news agency, for its part, released a video of a conversation going on between Soleimani and Pashapour in a site in Syria, in which the latter was asking Soleimani not to advance to frontlines.

Iran has not yet officially revealed a statistic on the number of its forces in Syria despite the announcement of the death of hundreds, including senior IRGC leaders over the past years.

In October 2015, Pashapour's brother-in-law died in an IRGC hospital in Tehran from his wounds after 13 months of fighting in Syria.

IRGC news agencies reported back then that he was subject to an assassination attempt using “chemical weapons” 40 days before his death announcement, without indicating who was behind the attempt.

Western diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that Iranian-backed militias are participating with the regime forces in battles to control Idlib, which are believed to be part of Tehran's “response” to Soleimani's assassination.

Iran had prevented its militias and Lebanese Hezbollah from participating in Idlib battles. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a few days ago that “six foreign pro-Iranian fighters were killed during the ongoing battles with the factions in the southern countryside of Aleppo.”

Most Viewed

 
 
World

UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

UN Chief and Pope Call for Nations to End the Use of Antipersonnel Land Mines

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 21 November 2024. (EPA)

The UN head, Pope Francis and others called Monday for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment globally grows.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to delegates at the fifth review of the International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, that 25 years after it went into force some parties had renewed the use of antipersonnel mines and some are falling behind in their commitments to destroy the weapons.

“I call on states parties to meet their obligations and ensure compliance to the convention, while addressing humanitarian and developmental impacts through financial and technical support,” Guterres said at the opening of the conference in Cambodia.

“I also encourage all states that have not yet acceded to the convention to join the 164 that have done so. A world without anti-personnel mines is not just possible. It is within reach.”

In a statement read on behalf of Pope Francis, his deputy Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that antipersonnel land mines and victim-activated explosive devices continue to be used. Even after many years of hostilities, “these treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children.”

“Pope Francis urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,” he said.

The treaty was signed in 1997 and went into force in 1999, but nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.

In a report released last week by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea. It added that non-state armed groups in at least five places — Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Gaza Strip — had used mines as well, and there were claims of their use in more than a half dozen countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa.

At least 5,757 people were killed and wounded by land mines and unexploded ordnance last year, primarily civilians of whom a third were children, Landmine Monitor reported.

Landmine Monitor said Russia had been using antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine, and just a week ago, the US, which has been providing Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war, announced it would start providing Kyiv with antipersonnel mines as well to try and stall Russian progress on the battlefield.

“Antipersonnel mines represent a clear and present danger for civilians,” Guterres said in his statement. “Even after fighting stops, these horrifying and indiscriminate weapons can remain, trapping generations of people in fear.”

He praised Cambodia for its massive demining efforts and for sharing its experience with others and contributing to UN peacekeeping missions.

Cambodia was one of the world's most mine-affected countries after three decades of war and disorder that ended in 1998, with some 4 million to 6 million mines or unexploded munitions littering the country.

Its efforts to rid the country of mines has been enormous, and Landmine Monitor said Cambodia and Croatia accounted for 75% of all land cleared of mines in 2023, with more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles).

Prime Minister Hun Manet joined the calls for more nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty, and thanked the international community for supporting Cambodia's mine clearance efforts. He said they have reduced land mine casualties from more than 4,300 in 1996 to fewer than 100 annually over the last decade.

“Cambodia has turned its tragic history into a powerful lesson for the world, advocating against the use of anti-personnel mines and highlighting their long-term consequences,” he said.