Aid Deliveries to Resume for Syrians Stranded on Jordanian Berm

The U.N. is resuming aid deliveries to 85,000 Syrians stuck outside of Jordan’s border, BBC News reported.

Jordan shut its border and halted aid deliveries in June when seven of its troops were killed in a cross-border attack by the so-called Islamic State. The last aid delivery was made in August via cranes to tens of thousands of Syrians, mostly women and children, stranded outside the border in two makeshift camps in the desert.

The U.N. has reached an agreement with the Jordanian military after many negotiations, the U.N. said on Tuesday. The delivery will include food, winter clothing, blankets and hygiene kits.

“The resumption of assistance comes at the start of the coldest period of the year, when temperatures can drop dangerously low,” a U.N. statement said.

More Than 1,000 Fighters Deployed by Iran Die in Syria

More than 1,000 recruits sent to Syria by Iran have been killed in the war, according to the head of Iran’s Veterans’ Affairs Office, AFP reported.

“The number of martyrs from our country defending the shrines has now passed 1,000,” Mohammad Ali Shahidi Mahalati said on Tuesday, according to the Iranian semiofficial Tasnim news agency. The fighters are sometimes called “defenders of the shrines,” referring to Shiite religious sites in Syria.

Combatants sent by Iran, ranging from Iranian military advisers to recruited fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan, fight alongside the government troops of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Iran, a key financial and military backer of the Syrian government, denies having any boots on the ground in Syria, saying its commanders and generals are there as military advisers.

Most of the volunteers sent by Iran to fight in Syria are recruits in the Afghan Fatemiyoun Division. Iranian, Afghani and Pakistani fighters killed in Syria are buried in Iran, and are regularly referred to in Iranian media as “martyrs.”

Shahidi, the head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Affairs, did not detail the nationalities of those killed fighting in Syria.

Syrian Military Announces New Volunteer-Based Commando Force

Volunteers interested in “achieving the final victory against terrorism” are being encouraged to apply to a new Syrian commando force, Al Jazeera reported.

Referring to the new force on Tuesday as the Fifth Corps, the Syrian military did not say where the volunteers would be based. The corps will fight alongside government soldiers and allies “in response to the rapid development of events, to support the successes of armed forces, and to meet people’s wishes to put an end to terrorist acts in the Syrian Arab Republic,” according to a Syrian army statement.

Syrian conscription-based armed forces have taken a blow in the six years of fighting, increasingly relying on regional allies and volunteer-based forces. Men above the age of 18 were conscripted for two-year drafts, but the start of the war saw many conscripts being kept on, with no sign of discharge. Many men of conscription age have deserted the army, paid bribes to avoid the draft or left the country.

The military statement said the Fifth Attack Troops Corps of Volunteers will consist of recruits over the age of 18 “not already eligible for military service or deserters.”

Recommended Reads:

• Foreign Policy: Assad Will Talk, but He Won’t Negotiate
• The Washington Post: In Syria’s Aleppo, Shiite Militias Point to Iran’s Unparalleled Influence
• Reuters: Exclusive: Russian Tankers Defy E.U. Ban to Smuggle Jet Fuel to Syria – Sources
• The Associated Press: Once a Child Bride, Syrian Refugee Is Now Sole Provider
• Voice of America: Pentagon: Drone Strike Kills Senior Al-Qaida Leader in Syria