(By Ethar Abdulhaq; Translation by Yusra Ahmed)
(Zaman Al Wasl)- About 20 days ago, rebels in the southern countryside of Aleppo targeted the armored car of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
Since then lots of news were circulated about the outcomes of targeting that car and about the victims.
Zaman Al Wasl met the defected Lieutenant Abo Majd Homsi, a commander of Anti shields battalion in al-Nasr Army, who himself targeted the car with the U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missile and asked him about the circumstances and conditions of targeting, and the status of south Aleppo's front and other things.
Q- Can you explain to us what made you suggest that Soleimani was in the car that you targeted, was your hit planned and determined in advance?
*When the regime’s barbaric attacks on the southern countryside of Aleppo backed with Shiite militias from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan started, we were called for help and we came for support, and when I arrived to the front and after surveillance and following up, I found out that Soleimani had attended a meeting in a Mosque in Al Hadher town, which is close to Tal Aleis town where a jeep loaded with Iranian officers was hit before. Of course I kept monitoring the front and only minutes before destroying the jeep, I targeted a double machine-gun size 14.5 and car full of regime’s members at the entrance to Berneh town to the south of Tal Aleis, Eastern of Aleppo-Damascus International route.
After hitting the machine-gun and a ammunition’s car, we noticed big chaos and troubled movement by the regime forces and the distinctive Jeep car arrived to inspect the situation there passing from the western entrance to Berheh town, which was under my control. I was informed that Iranian officers were around in the front, therefore I quickly targeted the Jeep with TOW missile which destroyed the car, we saw through the field glasses that 4 people were in the car, 3 of them died straight away, and the fourth who was sitting next to the driver was injured and tried to crawl on the ground then he was taken away by many members.
On the evening of the same day of targeting the car in November 14, we received information from Aleppo hospital stating that four people were brought in ambulance to hospital, three of them were dead, and the fourth was seriously injured. The hospital was tightened with heavy security procedure in the same time.
I noticed that the moment the missile hit the car, it did not caused it to rollover, or caused severe damage in it, which made me suggest that it was armoured.
Q- But still there are lot of conflicting reports about the fate of Soleimani, Some say he was killed and others said that he was injured, as you have witnessed the incidence, what is your opinion about this matter?
*I have already said that people in the car were severely injured and the hit was so accurate, and by cross reference the news of Iranians serious injuries of Soleimani, we conclude that he had been seriously injured.
It is normal for the Iranian to deny injury or the death of Soleimani, because he has a great symbolic value and spreading his injury amid fierce campaign on Aleppo will affect the morale of the militia, and thus Iran is trying to deny this or to hide and postpone announcing the news to keep the negative effects away as long a possible.
I can confirm that the accuracy in targeting the jeep was so high relying on the film documenting the incident, and I can almost confirm that all who were in the vehicle were killed.
Finally I can assure that rebels were able to kill big number of Iranian officers and members of Iranian militias in the battles of Southern countryside of Aleppo compared to other fronts by relying on eavesdropping strategy and control luxurious and distinctive vehicles and targeted them immediately with anti-tank, therefore, who killed that big number of Iranian officers would not find it difficult to target Soleimani if he was in the range of his fire.
Q- Do you think that if Soleimani's death is confirmed would that has significant negative impacts on whole Shiite militias in Syria, or Iran would be able to fill the space quickly?
Soleimani is not just a commander of a small group or battalion, he is the leader Alquds forces known to their crimes and horrible massacres in Syria and Iraq.
Evidence and picture confirmed that he had moved among different front in Syria, most recent was Southern Aleppo front, . I have personally noticed that the course of the battle of the Southern countryside of Aleppo has changed after hitting the vehicle and moved from attack into defence, and rebels were able to have the initiative and control areas previously dominated by the regime and its militia.
Q- From your position in the front of Southern countryside of Aleppo, how do you evaluate the situation of the battles in this region where there is still heavy fighting?
The dominant character on battles of Southern countryside of Aleppo these days is hit-and-run feature, but this situation was achieved after big effort and hard work to absorb the primary shock of the regime and its supporters which relied on fierce attack of thousands of ground forces supported with airstrikes coverage. In the same time the regime avoided using tanks in the ground battles because it knows that rebels have anti-tanks missiles.
Despite all that rebels are still able to repel attacks of regime’s forces and its militias and launching attacks and fatal traps against them. Front of Southern countryside of Aleppo is still hot, but what affected or power and scattered effort was battles with ISIS, but we still able to thwart the regime’s plans especially opening the road towards the Shi'ite towns of Kefraya and Fowa.
Moreover, initiating the battle of Latakia countryside had worsened the situation the front of southern countryside of Aleppo in terms of the distributing members and fighters however we beat it through coordination and we got to a plan of to logically distribute the effort and arms among the fronts of countryside of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo.
Finally, the Syrian regime’s lost besides the Shiite militias and Iranian officers in terms of members in fronts of Southern countryside of Aleppo are high as we count between 10 and 12 people daily besides destruction of vehicles.
Q- What do you think is magic word that can outweigh the rebels’ side in different fronts, especially Aleppo’s fronts?
I think the complex and impossible magic word is related to anti-aviation, although anti-tanks are available and have prominent roles in the battle field, but for anti Aviation the decision is taken at international level and great countries fighting for the Syrian area and their decision in connected to the benefits they want to achieve from Syria at the expense of Syrian people and their lives.
Of course, as rebels we have our friends and they kept supporting us like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, but the anti-aviation is becoming more than a necessity especially when the Russian aviation started targeting Syrians and destruct their towns and villages.
Of course the Russians claim they are targeting the Islamic State, but in fact they have not targeted any base for ISIS, and instead they target the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other neighbourhoods and markets, like what happened in Ariha recently, where the Russians bombed the market where no sign of military feature was there, and resulted 48 death and more than 100 injured..
We note that the Russians are targeting liberated villages and towns in Idlib to prevent people to return to them and force them to stay in camps and suffer of risks of cold and winter and flood.
Thus, the suffer of Syrians at different levels is related to the lack of anti-Aviation, which the West connects supplying it to other issues.
Q- You often mention Lieutenant colonel Jamil Radoon, even when you targeted the vehicle you said that it was a revenge for him, would you please talk to us about your relationship to him and where the investigation in his assassination reach to ?
I can confirm that the new leadership of the Sokour Alghab gathering are still investigating in the killing of Jamil besides the Turkish intelligence. I cannot find any side would benefit from Radoon’s death more the Syrian regime which tried hard to kill him because he defected early and he was from Qalet Almadiq town which is known of its people bravery.
My relationship with Lieutenant-Colonel Jamil Radoon relied on closeness and mutual understanding between us. He was one of the first officers to defect, and when I defected I chosen to work in with Sokour Alghab under his leadership.
Through my dealings with commander Radoon, I discovered that he was a dedicated leader and worked to the benefit of the revolution, to the point that he forgot about his family, and even sometimes he forgot food or drink. .
Moreover, his family was like my family and I felt comfortable with them as I had not seen my family for 3 years when they were under siege, moreover he helped my family to get out of siege and paid the expenses.
I would like to draw attention that Alnasr Army that I fight today in its ranks, was a result of Jamil’s effort, besides his tries to found Sokour Alghab to form a strong military gathering against the Syrian regime..
All these circumstances increased confidence between us and when I joined anti-Armored Corps and I became the first TOW thrower in Hama, Jamil told me that I was creative in my work.
In general I would say that I have not seen such a prestige and strength in any commander before, either from the Syrian regime or from the opposition.
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