Tehran lawmaker: Syrian rebels capture several Iranian soldiers
DUBAI - Up to half-a-dozen Iranian soldiers deployed in Syria have been captured by rebel forces, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Monday, two days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards confirmed losses in a battle near Aleppo.
Rebels seized the village of Khan Touman on Friday, some 15 km (9 miles) southwest of Aleppo, and killed several Iranian soldiers, dealing one of Tehran's biggest losses in Syria.
"According to the latest numbers, 13 defenders of the shrine were killed, 18 were wounded and five to six were captured," Esmail Kosari, chairman of the Iranian parliament's defence committee, was quoted as saying by the Mizan Online news agency.
It was the first time Iran had confirmed that any of its combatants had been taken prisoner in Syria. In December, Islamist rebels in Khan Touman said they had seized two Iranians but that was never confirmed by Tehran.
