TEHRAN -- A military 
advisor of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has been martyred in Syria after foreign-backed takfiri terrorists and anti-Damascus militants launched a major attack on the Syrian military positions in the northwestern province of Aleppo. 
“Brigadier General Kioumars Pour Hashemi, known as Haj Hashem, one of the defenders of the [Sayyida Zaynab] Shrine and senior IRGC military advisers in Syria, was martyred in overnight attacks by Zionist Takfiri terrorists on the outskirts of Aleppo,” the IRGC said in a statement Thursday. 
The Iranian military advisors, who are present in Syria at the official invitation of the Syrian government, have played an important role in helping the Syrians fight terrorism and establish peace, stability, and lasting security in the Arab country.
On Wednesday, members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist outfit and their allied armed factions reportedly attacked at least 10 areas under the control of the Syrian military in the west of Aleppo city and the eastern countryside of Idlib. 
Israel has been the principal supporter of terrorist groups that oppose the democratically-elected government of President Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.
The Israeli regime has carried out hundreds of attacks against Syria since 2011, when the Arab nation found itself in the grip of rampant foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.