NEW YORK, December 7. /TASS/. Iran has begun to evacuate some of its diplomats and military officials from Syria, the New York Times reports, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, "among those evacuated to neighboring Iraq and Lebanon were top commanders of Iran’s powerful Quds Forces, the external branch of the Revolutionary Guards Corps."
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on December 2 that the country’s military advisors would remain in Syria, assisting Damascus in its fight against terrorists.
The sources told the New York Times that Guards personnel, some Iranian diplomatic staff, their families, and Iranian civilians were also being evacuated. "Part of the evacuation is being carried out by planes to Tehran, while others are leaving via land routes to Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port of Latakia, the officials said," according to the paper.
Units of the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (outlawed in Russia) staged a large-scale attack on Syria’s northern governorates early on November 27. According to the Syrian army command, the terrorists attempted to seize a number of neighborhoods and military facilities, attacking the positions of government forces. Later, the Syrian army command said that government troops had to retreat from Aleppo to regroup and prepare for a counterattack.
On December 5, the Syrian army said that militants had infiltrated several neighborhoods in the city of Hama, the administrative center of the governorate of the same name in western Syria, and government forces were redeployed outside the city.