Commander of Fatemiyoun Brigade dies in Iran

Ali Rajab

Iranian news agencies have confirmed the death of the commander of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade, Muhammad Jafar al-Husayni, nicknamed “Abu Zainab”, after suffering severe wounds since he was hit by a missile two years ago.

The Iranian Holy Defense News Agency stated that Muhammad Jaafar Al-Husseini joined the fighting in Syria alongside the Iranian fighters before the formation of “Fatimiyoun Brigade”, and joined the brigade since its formation.

The Iranian Defense News Agency stated that Muhammad Jaafar Al-Husseini joined the fighting in Syria alongside the Iranian fighters before the formation of “Fatimiyoun Brigade”, and joined the brigade since its formation.

According to the agency, Al-Husseini (36 years old) was a cultural activist among Afghan immigrants before joining the brigade, and he played an influential role in training Afghan immigrants and enhancing the capabilities of Afghan students and youth in Iran.

The “Fatemiyoun Brigade” is formed by the Afghan Shiite refugees, who were lured by the regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to the war in Syria, under the slogans of defending the sanctuaries, “the shrine of Sayyida Zainab in Damascus”, in exchange for financial support, and most importantly obtaining Iranian citizenship.

Since 2013, as many as 50,000 Afghans have fought in Syria as part of the Fatemiyoun, a pro-Assad force organized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Based on field interviews with former fighters and their families, this Special Report examines the motivations of members of the Afghan Shia Hazara communities who joined the Fatemiyoun as well as the economic and political challenges of reintegrating them into Afghan society.

The recruitment of the “Fatemiyoun Brigade” fighters came through Iranian temptations for the Afghan Shiite refugees, who were estimated at about 440,000 refugees.

According to several estimates, the budget of “Fatemiyoun Brigade” is about $ 400 million since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, or about $ 75 million a year, as the fighter receives an average monthly salary of about $ 500.

Zuhair Mujahid, head of cultural affairs in the Fatimiyoun Brigade, said that the number of Afghans killed in Syria has reached more than two thousand and about a thousand wounded.

Several reports of human rights organizations monitored a widespread violation of the human rights field by the fighters of the “Fatimiyoun Brigade”, where these militias burned the homes of a neighborhood in Palmyra in the eastern Homs countryside, and also practiced torture and kidnapping against the indigenous population, especially in the areas of the Sunnis, where The sectarian goat is the first class in the violations by the Fatimid militias.