On June 22, a video clip circulated on Arab Twitter accounts claiming to show an Iranian who was captured in Fallujah, Iraq. The Iranian is shown in front of three armed militants. Their affiliation is not clear from the video, though a black flag associated with the Islamic State is hanging on the wall.
Islamic State-affiliated media outlets have not propagated the video as of yet.
The purported Iranian national told the camera in Farsi, “I am Mohammad Saber Bayat, from the city of Hamedan, from Boo Ali neighborhood. I have not married, and my family is in Iran.”
Bayat’s purpose in Fallujah is unclear, and the video did not give any indication as to why he is in Fallujah. Iranian-backed Shia militias have been fighting on the outskirts of the city, and elements of the Iraqi military have entered the city and recently taken control of the government center.
Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders including Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Qods Force, and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Ground Forces, have been spotted at the Fallujah front. Iranian fighters have also embedded with Iraqi militias in the recent operations.
from Long War Journal – The Long War Journal http://ift.tt/28WWyod
via Defense News
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