Over 2,000 Afghans sent by Iran killed in Syria: official
Tehran: More than 2,000 Afghans deployed by Iran have been killed fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, an official in the volunteer force told Iranian media.
The Fatemiyoun Brigade of Afghan "volunteer" recruits has been fighting in Syria for five years, said Zohair Mojahed, a cultural official in the brigade.
"This brigade has given more than 2,000 martyrs and 8,000 wounded for Islam," he said in an interview with the reformist Shargh newspaper published Saturday.
Iran rarely provides figures on the numbers fighting and killed in its operations in Syria and Iraq.
The last toll was provided by the veterans organisation in March, which said 2,100 volunteers had died without specifying how many were foreign recruits.
Iran denies sending professional troops to fight in the region, saying it has only provided military advisors and organised brigades made up of volunteers from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Fatemiyoun is reportedly the biggest military unit deployed by Iran in Iraq and Syria, made up of recruits from Afghanistan's Shiite minority.
Iran has backed Afghan forces in the past against the Taliban in their own country, as well as mobilising them against Saddam Hussein's forces in the Iran-Iraq war of 1980- 88.
Some 3,000 Afghans died fighting Iraq in the 1980s, Mojahed said.
Tehran offers Iranian citizenship to the families of those foreign fighters "martyred" in the conflicts of Syria and Iraq.
Iranian media has reported on the funerals of volunteer "martyrs" and aired television features about their presence in Syria.
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Evading arrest for months, alleged liquor smuggler arrested after he goes to Prayagraj for holy dip
Bhadohi (PTI): Like lakhs of people who thronged Prayagraj on Sunday to have a holy dip at the Sangam during the Maha Kumbh, 22-year-old Pravesh Yadav too arrived in the city to take part in the ritual bathing that many believe washes off one's sins.
However, destiny had other plans for Yadav, who was allegedly involved in liquor smuggling and had evaded arrest since July 2023, as he was apprehended by cops in the Civil Lines area of Prayagraj owing to strong police surveillance, a police official said on Sunday.
Elaborating further about the arrest, Superintendent of Police of Bhadohi Abhimanyu Manglik said that Pravesh Yadav is a resident of Alwar district of Rajasthan and was absconding for one-and-half years.
Mangalik said during the checking of vehicles on National Highway-19 on July 29, 2023, adulterated liquor meant for smuggling from Alwar to Bihar was recovered and Pradeep Yadav and Raj Domoliya were arrested from the Unj police station area in Bhadohi. However, Pravesh Yadav escaped from the spot. All are residents of Alwar district and were involved in smuggling illegal liquor in Bihar for a long time., he alleged.
A case was registered against them under sections 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 272 (Adulteration of food or drink intended for sale), 273 (Sale of noxious food or drink) and 207 (Fraudulent claim to property to prevent its seizure as forfeited or in execution) of the IPC, Excise Act and Gangster Act, police said.
The officer said that Yadav reached Prayagraj to take a holy dip but was arrested by police due to effective surveillance.
