While U.S. They said the advisers provided weapons training to some 7,000 Iraqi troops and militia f...

1. Iran General Said to Mastermind Iraq Ground War
While U.S. They said the advisers provided weapons training to some 7,000 Iraqi troops and militia
fighters and coordinated with military commanders ahead of the operation.
One commander, who agreed to be identified only by his nickname, Abu Zeinab, said Soleimani
began planning the Jurf al-Sakher operation three months ago. military advisers have been
coordinating coalition airstrikes from within heavily fortified bases, Soleimani and his commanders
are on the front lines and would assume a key role in the retaking of major cities.
That could prove a major impediment to addressing the grievances of Iraq's Sunni minority. The
sectarian militias have long been implicated in brutality against Sunnis, and their advance could
undermine efforts to knit the troubled country together.
Militia commanders told The Associated Press that dozens of advisers from Hezbollah and the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard were on the front lines in Jurf al-Sakher. It was the first known
Hezbollah death in Iraq since the lightning IS advance in June.
A Lebanese official close to the group said Hezbollah is known to have "a limited number of
advisers" in Iraq who are not directly involved in fighting, and that al-Haj was one of them. Local

2. commanders said Lebanon's Hezbollah Shiite militia group was also involved.
The U.S.
When Islamic State militants retreated from the embattled town of Jurf al-Sakher last week, the Iraqi
military was quick to flaunt a rare victory. The cleared town, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the
capital, lies on a road often used by Shite pilgrims.
Iraqi military officials declined to discuss Soleimani's presence in Jurf al-Sakher, or in previous
victories where he is known to have played a commanding role. Ibrahim Mohammed al-Haj was
buried in Lebanon and his funeral attended by top Hezbollah officials. Iran and Hezbollah are closely
linked with Iraqi Shiite militias, which have also played a key role in driving IS out of the so-called
Baghdad Belt of Sunni villages ringing the capital. has awkwardly found itself on the same side as
Iran and Hezbollah in the war against the Islamic State group, which rampaged across much of
northern and western Iraq in June. But Hezbollah has declined to comment on reports of its
involvement in Iraq.
In July, officials in Lebanon said a Hezbollah commander was killed while on a "jihadi mission" in
Iraq. Those successes include halting the IS advance in the town of Amirli in August and the city of
Samarra in June.
But senior figures with the Revolutionary Guard have publicly acknowledged Soleimani's role in
Iraq's war with IS.
As for Hezbollah, it has openly joined Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces against mainly Sunni
rebels -- a decision that has fueled sectarian tensions in Lebanon. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
. State television showed tanks and Humvees parading through the town and soldiers touring
government buildings that the Sunni extremist group had occupied since August.
However, photos soon emerged on independent Iraqi news websites revealing a more discreet
presence -- the Iranian general Ghasem Soleimani, whose name has become synonymous with the
handful of victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces