Thomas Wictor

There’s no doubt that virtually every significant Iranian and Hezbollah commander in Syria has been killed. The list is incredible. Though some people say that this is because Iranian leaders go to the front lines to rally their men, I don’t believe it. I think Saudi and allied commandos are doing the killing. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (MEK) reported that Quds Force leader Qassem Suleimani was severely wounded in the head when his car was hit by a missile. I think he’s dead.

The Quds Force was originally the unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that was responsible for extraterritorial activities. However, so many Quds Force operatives have been killed in Syria that the IRGC began fighting outside the borders of Iran, which it hadn’t done before. It’s not clear how many IRGC troops were sent to Syria, but Israel says that they’ve been withdrawn due to heavy losses. I think that’s true. The IRGC isn’t trained for unconventional warfare.

On December 24, 2015, Iran released what it claims are photos of Qassem Suleimani hale and hearty in the village of Bashkwi (or Bashkoy), Syria, north of Aleppo.

Here are some of the images. He’s with members of Hezbollah, we’re told.

I believe that these photos were taken in Iraq last year. Suleimani is wearing a copy of the American M81 Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) with Velcro patches for a name tag, branch of service tag, and shoulder patches on the jacket. The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) doesn’t issue woodland-pattern BDUs with Velcro patches.

Although the Jihad Council of Lebanese Hezbollah uses copies of the American BDU in woodland pattern, the jacket also lacks Velcro patches.

These are all Lebanese Hezbollah who were either on their way to Syria or were killed in Syria.

Iran created the paramilitary Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, which the Quds Force modeled on the Lebanese Hezbollah. Iraqis wear woodland-pattern BDUs with name tags, branch tags, and shoulder patches on the jacket.

Note the giant beard on the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades leader above. It matches those worn by the two men allegedly photographed with Suleimani on December 24, 2015.

You rarely see beards like that on Lebanese Hezbollah, and almost never on Quds Force or IRGC. Iraqi militia also roll their sleeve cuffs the way Suleimani did in the photos. Lebanese Hezbollah don’t roll their cuffs.

So, the woodland-pattern BDU jacket with Velcro patches is Iraqi, not Lebanese. Here are men of the Mujahideen of Iraq Brigade.

Another Iraqi Shi’ite militia, the al-Abbas Brigade.

All were trained by the Quds Force, which is why Qassem Suleimani spent so much time in Iraq.

Lebanese Hezbollah recently copied the American Army Combat Uniform (ACU), which has Velcro patches and a Mandarin collar. The two effeminate, now-dead Asian Hezbollah recruits below wear the woodland-pattern BDU (left) and the new ACU with a digital pattern (right).

Quds Force couldn’t

The Iranians say that the battle of Bashkwi was a game-changing victory over the terrorists.

On Christmas day in the Aleppo Governorate’s northern countryside, the Islamist rebels from Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen launched a massive assault on the National Defense Forces (NDF) frontline positions at the village of Bashkoy in order to build a large buffer-zone around their main supply route from Turkey to the provincial capital.

Initially, Jabhat Al-Nusra and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen were successful, capturing several points outside of the village and inside its eastern flank; however, their success did not last long as the Syrian Armed Forces eventually forestalled the Islamist advance and pushed back the encroaching enemy combatants attempting to infiltrate into Bashkoy’s residential area.

There are a lot of claims being made.

An infamous Saudi terrorist ringleader stationed in the strategic town of Bashkoy Northwest of Aleppo province was killed in a special operation of the Syrian army.

“The Syrian army units killed Abu Muthna al-Madanai, the al-Nusra Front’s emir of the region,” military sources said on Sunday.

The hunting operation was carried out after the terrorists failed to capture the strategic town of Bashkoy in another massive attack on army positions on Saturday. Hundreds of terrorists staged at least three major attacks on army positions near Bashkoy on Friday and Saturday to win control over the town.

After repelling the first attack on Saturday, sources told FNA that the Syrian army forces killed scores of Takfiri terrorists, destroyed 7 tanks, a BMP vehicle and 23mm cannon and seized a tank.

Reports also said the Syrian army killed Mohammed A’war, the military commander of the Fajr al-Khelafa Battalions, in clashes with the terrorists in the vicinity of Bashkoy.

I can’t find any information on Abu Muthna al-Madanai. However, two months ago, the Syrians said they’d killed the al-Nusra emir of the region, a guy named Khaled Ataua. There’s no information on him either.