Head of the Mohammad Rasulallah Revolutionary guard base Hossein Hamedani attends a conference to mark the martyrs of terrorism in Tehran September 6, 2011

Islamic State [terrorists] seized several villages from [rivals] north of Aleppo, Syria, on Friday, in a surprise attack that came despite intensive Russian airstrikes that Moscow insists are targeting the [terrorist] group, activists said.

Iranian state media reported that a senior commander in Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard was killed by the Islamic State group on the outskirts of Aleppo city, but it was not immediately clear whether Gen. Hossein Hamedani‘s death was related to the new ISIS offensive.

“IRGC general Hamedani operated under the pseudonym Abu Wahab and was the commander of all Iranian forces in Syria for the past three years,” Il Foglio journalist Daniel Raineri noted.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Hamedani “is believed to have directly overseen the organization of pro-Assad forces into groups such as the Popular Committees, which were later folded into the so-called National Defense Force.”

An Iranian state television report said he was killed while “carrying out an advisory mission.” It didn’t provide any further details. The official IRNA news agency read a statement by the Guard in which it blamed ISIS for his death.

http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-says-isis-just-killed-its-top-general-in-syria-2015-10