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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Over 220 Iranian troops said killed in Syria since October
2016-04-06
A happy number...
[IsraelTimes] Iranian media reports that over 220 Iranian soldiers have been killed in fighting in Syria since October, including three over the past day.

Two of the three were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and the third of the pro-regime Basij militia, Israel Radio reports.

Also Tuesday, Hezbollah announces that two of its most senior commanders are killed in battles with Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 near Homs.

Iranian forces are fighting alongside the forces of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
’s regime in the country’s five-year civil war.
Posted by:trailing wife

#4  How much better/worse are the regulars?

From personal experience, they're more professional than the IRGC. Even after 40 years of 'politicization', the regulars are still not fully trusted by the theocracy and tend to be relegated to a sort of second-class status. That the mullahs were reduced to recalling a lot of dismissed Shah-era officers to fight the Iran-Iraq war still rankles.

Capability-wise, they're... adequate. Probably slightly less capable than the average Gulf region military.

Note that the Iranians are sending elements from their equivalent of a Delta Force to Syria. That, and open source info, confirms they're having volunteer-issues with the IRGC. When they start sending from the regular units, then it'll be a good indicator that the Iranians are in real trouble.
Posted by: Pappy   2016-04-06 16:15  

#3  And, WHY do the American politicians want to intervene in this war? Aren't our enemies killing each other?
Posted by: jvalentour   2016-04-06 12:13  

#2  How much better/worse are the regulars?
Posted by: Shipman   2016-04-06 11:18  

#1  Which kinda explains why the mullahs are sending the regular army.
Posted by: Pappy   2016-04-06 10:13  

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