Iranian troops lands in Syria for joint offensive, reports

The Syrian conflict, which began as a peaceful protest in 2011, has led to at least 250,000 deaths, according to the UN [Photo: AFP]

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, reports said.

News agencies reported on Thursday the arrival of the Iranians quoting two Lebanese sources.

"The [Russian] air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies," said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

"It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside."

Sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad's government to rebels.

If true, the development points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad's other main allies - Iran and Hezbollah - focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by opposition fighters in rapid advances earlier this year.

"The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle," the second source said.

"They are not advisers ... we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more."

The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hama in the west of the country, where Assad's forces are fighting an array of rebel groups.

The stated target of the Russian air strikes, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, is based mostly in the north and east.

An alliance of opposition groups, including the Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, made rapid gains in Idlib province earlier this year, completely expelling the government from the area bordering Turkey.

Source: Bloom Gist, Al Jazeera, REUTERS