UK Edition
Slain Iranian general Qassim Solemaini’s militias are secretly fighting in Syria’s final rebel stronghold, radio communications leaked to the Telegraph show.
The rare recordings reveal how Iranian soldiers and Afghan mercenaries are directing military operations in Idlib, northwest Syria, in a battle they had promised not to take part in during peace talks.
Soleimani’s powerful, shadowy Quds Force has been instrumental in helping swing the war in President Bashar al-Assad’s favour. However, Tehran is understood to have made assurances to Turkey, which backs the opposition in Syria, not to send troops to Idlib due to the proximity of the province to Ankara’s border.
The commander of the Fatemiyoun Division, an Afghan Shia militia fighting under the Quds Force umbrella, last week said that prior to his death Soleimani had given instructions for the paramilitary group's strategy for the next five years, and that his assassination would not cause any “disruptions”.
The claim suggests that the militias in Idlib are there on Soleimani’s command and acting out his plans.
Independent activist group Macro Media Centre (MMC) passed the recordings on to the Telegraph from spotters at one of the local observatories, who managed to tune into the frequency of the militias’ radio transmissions.
The same group late last year shared the radio communications of Russian pilots with the New York Times, which used them to show how pro-government forces were deliberately bombing hospitals in the opposition bastion.Idlib, a province of 3.5 million people living under the control of jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other more moderate ones, is being pummelled daily by Syrian and Russian strikes, as well as by ground forces.
The offensive has already displaced half a million and is threatening to become the worst humanitarian crisis of the war.
The bulk of the recordings were made between September and November after the Iranians’ radio frequency was discovered, however some are from as late as last week.
They were determined to come from a makeshift base in Tamanah, Maarat al-Numan district, miles from their known bases in government territory in Aleppo and Homs.
On one recording, an Afghan fighter speaking Persian is heard saying to another: “Let’s go together toward their position tonight, to see whether it is a bird or fox,” using animals as code words for targets.
“They can’t defend it, even with the whole battalion,” one jokes. “We will go in secret and we will hit and then take it, it’ll be no big deal.”
The commanders of various rebel groups fighting in the area told the Telegraph they estimated the presence of at least 400 fighters, but others said the number could be as high as 800.
“Iranian militias seem to deliberately hide their presence in Idlib but in reality they are here,” said Abu Hamza Kirnazi, a field commander in the Turkey-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL). “They have heavy weaponry and have used artilleries and rocket launchers against us in al-Tamanah and other areas.”
- Read more: How Soleimani's 'holy war' fuels Sunni-Shia conflict in Syria
- 'We were thirsty for martyrdom': Inside the Afghan militias fighting in Quds Force
An opposition delegate present at peace talks in both Astana, Kazakhstan, and Sochi in Russia, said Iran had assured Turkey that it had no interest in fighting in Idlib and was keen not to jeopardise relations with Ankara.
Turkey has become an important trading partner for the Islamic Republic as sanctions bite, though the latter’s military allegiance has long been to the Syrian government.
Analysts say Turkey will be aware of the Iranian presence in Idlib, but has little leverage to demand they leave.
Syria’s conventional army has been weakened by years of deaths and defections. The Quds Force, Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s extraterritorial military and intelligence force, and their Fatemiyon brigades, meanwhile, have a fearsome reputation gained in previous battles around Damascus, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor in the east.
“Iranians are usually needed as holding forces,” said Dareen Khalifa, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group. “They are better at pushing forward, better at guerilla warfare.
“Syrian government forces are nowhere near as strong or organised, particularly now they have to rely on opposition fighters who have ‘reconciled’ with the regime.”
Commander Kirnazi added: “They are involved in the fighting, but they are also providing military assistance and training to the local fighters. They also bring in Iranian and Lebanese Shia preachers to give religious guidance to fighters on the frontlines.”
The radio communications are full of sectarian language. The Iranian and Afghan miltiias are made up of Shia Muslim fighters, while the majority in Idlib and those defending it are Sunni.
“Ya, Ali, Ya, Ali”, the troops are heard saying to one other, asking for help from Imam Ali, considered to be the rightful successor of Prophet Mohammad in Shia Islam. “Inshallah (God willing) we will have victory over them,” they say.
Iran has led a controversial campaign in Syria in the pursuit of controlling an arc of territory - known as the “Shia Crescent” - from Tehran all the way to Beirut in Lebanon.
“You can tell from the recordings why people in Idlib might be afraid,” said Elizabeth Tsurkov, fellow in the Middle East Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. “What’s contained in them is not only a threat to their lives, but also their religion.”