High Casualties Among Afghan Shiites in Iran's Proxy War in Syria

In the front lines of the Syrian civil war, Afghan Shiite migrants and refugees, who have not received much military training, are engaged in proxy warfare for the Islamic Republic of Iran against the opponents of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. The death toll among the Fatemiyoun Brigade, to which many of these Afghan soldiers belong, is very high. The Iranian government is trying to present a favorable image of these soldiers to attract fresh recruits and boost the morale of its forces; streets in Tehran are named after these individuals, state media refer to the Afghan soldiers killed in the war as martyrs and praise them, and their coffins are welcomed in various cities. The recruitment effort primarily targets the Shiite minority in Afghanistan - the Hazaras. In images released by Al Jazeera of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, he is seen praying for these Afghan soldiers while fighting in Syria. The Arabic-language media outlet Al-Alam, affiliated with the Iranian government, has recently reported that Hezbollah is training special Afghan forces in sniper techniques and the use of night vision weapons. It is said that hundreds of these fighters have been sent to various conflict zones in Syria. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has recently released images of Afghan forces training in the Fatemiyoun Brigade, which some experts believe were published to enhance the brigade's image. However, these experts assert that 'in reality, there is no credible evidence of such capabilities among the Fatemiyoun.' Ali Alfoneh, a senior member of the Atlantic Council based in Washington, tells Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the Revolutionary Guard carefully designs and disseminates these narratives. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Iranian government has sent volunteer forces, including many Afghan refugees in Iran, to the country. Evidence suggests that the recruitment of Afghan forces is not limited to Hazaras residing in Iran, but hundreds of Shiites within Afghanistan have also been recruited by the IRGC. The Iranian government claims that soldiers going to Syria from Iran are volunteers who have gone to defend Shiite religious sites in Syria. However, there is evidence that Afghan soldiers in Syria are also offered financial assistance and promises of residency in Iran. Ahmad Shoja, a former researcher at Human Rights Watch in Afghanistan, states that the Fatemiyoun have never been stationed in cities where Shiite holy sites are located; rather, their work involves fighting in deserts and high-risk frontline areas. Although it is said that Iran has sent thousands of volunteer forces and military advisors to Syria, there are no accurate statistics on the number of Afghan soldiers in Syria. Media close to the Iranian government do not provide much information about how these individuals were killed when announcing their deaths. The head of the Martyrs Foundation announced last fall that the bodies of over a thousand soldiers, including Iranian, Afghan, and Pakistani soldiers, would be returned to Iran. Ali Alfoneh states that based on the number of memorial ceremonies held in Iran for the fallen members of the Fatemiyoun Brigade, 656 Afghan soldiers have been killed in Syria since 2013. He believes that the death rate among the Fatemiyoun is up to 20 percent higher than that of other forces. He claims that since 2011, 15,000 individuals have been sent to Syria as part of the Fatemiyoun Brigade. Approximately fifteen percent of the population of Afghanistan is Shiite. The United Nations estimates the number of Afghans residing in Iran to be close to one million, while Tehran has reported this figure to be as high as three million.