(Zaman Al Wasl)- A well-informed source said experts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been training pro-militants to use drones inside al-Nayrab military airbase in northern Aleppo province.
The Intensive training course is led by Maj. Gen Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Quds Force, that responsible for the extraterritorial operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to the source, the nationalities of trainees are unknown, pointing out that the intensity of the training reveals that their number is large. He added that the training process is intensive and continues throughout the day, so to finish the training in the shortest period possible.
These days, the region has been experiencing tensions between the US and Iran on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia and Iran on the other. The source, an aviation specialist, saw that Qassem Soleimani is conducting this training to carry out qualitative, intelligence or subversive operations inside or outside Syria and blaming them on other parties, by loading these drones with explosive devices weighing between 250g-5kg.
This evokes the drone swarm attack on Hmeimim base on January 6, 2018, which resulted in about 14 damaged Russian aircrafts, mostly Sukhoi Su-24. Then, Russia accused “terrorist” organizations in Idlib province, like Jabhat Al-Nusra. The distance between the nearest point controlled by al-Qaeda's Syria branch and Hmeimim Airbase is 40 km, with a high mountain chain controlled by the regime, through which it is not possible to guide or fly large (as well as small) drones, due to obstructions preventing the radio signals from the source from reaching the drones. The maximum range of these small drones does not exceed a maximum of 4-5km.
The source considers that it is very likely that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard stands behind the attack on Khmeimim base at the beginning of 2018, and it could have also targeted the Saudi oil pumping stations last week with these drones, and Abu Dhabi airport before that.
The source added, "The IRGC may have set up multiple bases in Syria to train its operatives to acquire the ability and skill in driving and directing drones in terrorist operations inside and outside Syria, to accuse others and to create more tension in the region.”
Zaman Al Wasl
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