Several hundred fighters from a number of Iraqi groups backed by Iran have been sent to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who are trying to stop the advance of opposition forces.
It was reported by Reuters, citing its own sources.
Several unnamed Iraqi and Syrian sources confirmed to the agency that at least 300 fighters, mainly from the Badr and Nujabaa groups, had been sent to Syria.
According to them, they crossed the Syrian-Iraqi border last Sunday, December 1, using an inconspicuous road to avoid the official border crossing.
A senior Syrian military official told Reuters that the Iraqi fighters were crossing the border in small groups to avoid air strikes.
"These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north," the official said.
A representative of the Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah said that the group is closely monitoring the situation in Syria. According to him, the group's leadership has not yet decided whether to send its fighters to help Syrian government forces.
The agency notes that the Lebanese Hezbollah will probably not provide assistance to the Syrian authorities, as the group is busy confronting Israel, whose army is conducting a military operation in southern Lebanon.
According to one of the agency's interlocutors, Hezbollah earlier recalled its officers who were responsible for controlling the city of Aleppo in northern Syria. The day before, this city almost completely came under the control of Syrian opposition groups.
What's happening in Syria
Last Wednesday, November 27, Syrian opposition groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a large-scale offensive in northwestern Syria.
As a result of the offensive, the opposition managed to capture a number of settlements, including Aleppo, one of the country's largest cities. They also took control of military facilities of the government army.
This map shows the advance of Syrian opposition groups (light green) in northwestern Syria from November 27 to December 2.
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Map of hostilities. Photo: wikimedia.org
Recall that earlier, the Defense Intelligence spoke about the situation of russian troops in Syria.
And on the evening of December 2, it became known that russian military personnel and diplomats were fleeing Damascus amid the advance of Syrian opposition groups.
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