TEHRAN – Iran´s Revolutionary Guards have carried out 700 drone strikesagainst forces of the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria, its aerospacechief told conservative news agency Fars on Tuesday.
“Our bomber drones have carried out 700 military operations using smartbombs against Daesh,” said Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, using theArabic acronym for IS.
“They were used in eliminating tanks, personnel carriers, cars used forsuicide attacks and 23- millimetre cannons — these were targets prized byDaesh and we significantly turned the tide of battle,” he added.
The guards most recently used military drones against IS targets in Syriaon October 1, in retaliation for a deadly attack in September on a militaryparade in Iran´s southwest claimed by the militant group.
Seven military drones as well as six ballistic missiles struck the “ISheadquarters” in the eastern Syrian town of Hajin, about 24 kilometres (15miles) north of Albu Kamal bordering Iraq, state TV reported.
Iranian media said published images indicated the drones werelocally-produced “Saegheh” craft, reverse-engineered from a US RQ-170Sentinel captured by Iran in 2011.
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Iran´s armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, said atthe time that the strikes were the first time the drones had “crossedmultiple countries and reached their targets.”
It was also the first time Iran had officially announced it was usingcombat drones outside of its borders, the conservative Tasnim news agencysaid.
Iran is a key backer of Syria´s President Bashar al-Assad and a largecontingent of Revolutionary Guards operate in the country as “militaryadvisers”. – APP/AFP
