Iranian general killed in Syria

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that one of its senior officers had been killed in Syria while advising pro-government forces in an eastern town near the Iraqi border.

"Brigadier General Shahrokh Daipour ... was martyred in the town of Albu Kamal in Syria during a mission to advise Syrian pro-government forces," according to the guards' Sepah News.

The brief report did not give the circumstances of the officer's death.

He was described as a former unit commander who was wounded during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war before holding various positions involved with artillery.

Iran, along with Russia, is a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Tehran denies sending professional troops to fight in Iraq and Syria, saying it has only provided military advisers and organised brigades made up of volunteers from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Albu Kamal, in Deir Ezzor province, was the last major town in Syria held by the Daesh group until its fall in November.