Iranian guards commander killed in Syria: state media

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has been killed during fighting in Syria, Iran's state media reported on Tuesday.

"Brigadier General Abdollah Khosravi, a senior war veteran, was martyred on Saturday in Syria," the Basij news agency said without giving further details.

According to Fars news agency, Khosravi was commander of the Fatehin Battalion, made up of Iranian volunteers fighting in Iraq and Syria. 

Its members are drawn from the powerful Basij militia, a volunteer force linked to the Revolutionary Guards and sometimes used for domestic security inside Iran. 

Tehran supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran-backed forces have been on the front lines in battles against insurgents including the Islamic State (IS) group.

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

Khosravi will be buried in his home town of Arak in central Iran on Thursday, along with Afghan recruit Javid Hosseini, state broadcaster IRIB said.

Iranian media regularly report on the funerals of Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani "martyrs" killed in fighting in Syria. 

Authorities rarely issue official casualty figures. 

The most recent death toll, from the veterans' organisation in March, was 2,100. It gave no details on how many were foreign recruits.