Iran and Hizballah send fighters for major Syria offensive

The development is almost certain to increase pressure on Western-backed rebels, who are battling multiple foes, and push more civilians out of the areas of fighting, potentially creating a fresh wave of refugees.

Russia began its air campaign September 30, and Syrian troops and allied militiamen launched a ground offensive against rebels in central Syria a week later.

Russia says its airstrikes are meant to weaken IS and other "terrorists" in Syria, but Western officials and Syrian rebels say most of the strikes have focused on central and northern Syria, where the extremist group does not have a strong presence.

The official, who has deep knowledge of operational details in Syria, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - currently numbering around 1,500 - began arriving about two weeks ago, after the Russian airstrikes began, and have accelerated recently.

The Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hizballah has also sent a fresh wave of fighters to Syria, he told AP.

The main goal is to secure the strategic Hama-Aleppo highway and seize the key rebel-held town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, which Assad's forces lost in April to insurgents that included al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Nusra Front.

The loss of Jisr al-Shughour, followed by the fall of the entire province, was a resounding defeat for Assad, opening the way for rebels to threaten his heartland in the coastal province of Latakia.

The official suggested the Syrian army's alarmingly tenacious position around that time is what persuaded the Russians to join the fray and begin airstrikes two weeks ago.

The Syrian government and Iran had been asking Russia to intervene for a year, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss military affairs.

He said the Russian "tsunami wave" has given allies such as Iran the cover to operate more freely in Syria.

His account of Iranian troops arriving ties in with reports from Syrian opposition activists, who reported a troop buildup in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported Wednesday that Iranian troops were arriving and being transported to a military base in the coastal town of Latakia, in the town of Jableh outside the provincial capital.

At least two senior Iranian commanders were killed in Syria in recent days, including General Hossein Hamedani, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, who died October 8 near Aleppo.

Rebel pushback

"Sending more troops from Hizballah and Iran only increases the shelf life of the Syrian regime, which is destined to end," Major Jamil Saleh, the leader of Tajammu Alezzah, a US-backed Free Syrian Army faction, told the AP. "It will only add more destruction and displacement."

The Syrian army began its offensive a week ago against rebels on three major fronts in areas between Idlib and Hama.

To the north, IS capitalised on the strikes against rebels in north-western and central Syria to capture a string of villages and a main military base from insurgents that brought them closer to Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

	Anti-tank missiles are slowing down regime advances [Getty]

"They took advantage of the vacuum," said Lt. Colonel Ahmed Saoud, commander of 13th Division, a rebel group that is part of the Free Syrian Army.

The group is a staunch IS opponent and operates in Aleppo.

The official who spoke to AP all but confirmed that the IS is not the priority for the Syrian troops and their allies, saying most areas held by the group in eastern Syria are desert regions considered to be on the periphery.

A week into the multipronged offensive, insurgents say they are overstretched, exhausted and their ammunition is depleted.

There have been hundreds of sorties in an area that stretches for about 60 kilometers, and a significant mobilisation of ground troops.

And yet, rebel commanders say the offensive has failed to dislodge the various insurgent groups from territory they control that leads to the heartland of Assad's power.

The rebels are backed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, including some ultraconservative groups and al-Qaeda affiliates.

Instead, the rebel groups are still pushing back. Some are using US-delivered TOW anti-tank missiles, while others are resorting to tactics such as booby-trapped cars.

Saoud, the 13th Division commander whose fighters received TOW missiles, said he worked in the same trench with a faction from the Army of Conquest.

That umbrella group includes militants from al-Nusra Front.

"There is now something bigger than our differences and disagreements. It is the Russian invasion," he said. "It is an emergency situation. Everyone would understand that."

Saoud said only one of his bases was hit by the Russians, with few casualties. The rebels have kept a lid on their casualty figures, just like the Syrian government.

"With all that firepower, with new launchers and a hail of airstrikes ... they were not able to advance," Saoud said of the government troops. "In my mind, that is a victory."