Iran has set up a new training camp in Iraq for its Syrian and Iraqi militia in the Karbala desert.
Iran’s terrorist designated Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its extraterritorial operations arm, Quds Force, with help from their Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, supervise the camp and provide recruits with courses on drone tactics.
Iraqi political analyst Hilal al-Obeidi says the recruits attend courses in Iran to learn Farsi before receiving training in Iraq.
The establishment of the training camp “comes as part of Iran’s relentless endeavor to produce a generation of experts with experience in launching explosives-laden drones”, he said.
According to some sources, the IRGC is working to recruit more youth into its Syrian and Iraqi militia, reportedly offering a substantial monthly stipend for militiamen who attend training courses on drone operation.
“Iran’s leaders are wasting the wealth of their people on matters that will bring them only hardship and crises,” said al-Hasakeh political committee co-ordinator Lt. Col. Hisham al-Mustafa.
He noted that the Karbala base is one of many that were opened in Iraq and Syria with support and funding from the IRGC.
This kind of weapon does not require large sums of money to manufacture and can evade tracking and remote destruction systems.
Iran’s regional proxies, particularly the Houthis in Yemen, are increasingly using explosives-laden drones as an offensive method as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are inexpensive and hard to stop.
IRGC-backed Iraqi militias have launched at least six attacks since April using drones laden with small amounts of explosives, most recently on July 24, when a UAV targeted al-Harir airbase, to the north of Erbil.
Hisham al-Mustafa says that the IRGC has been attempting to manipulate the population’s sectarian sentiments to inject new blood into its militias, especially ideologically driven fighters who suffer from extreme poverty.
In this way, he said, the Quds Force can continue its policy of extending Iranian hegemony in the region.
Source: Al-Mashareq
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