Basij Forces Resume Drills in Kurdistan Province

Iran’s Basij (Voluntary) forces started their military drills codenamed Towards Beitol-Moqaddas in the Western Iranian province of Kurdistan on Friday.

Forty battalions comprising 15,000 Basijis (Volunteer Forces) are taking part in the drills in 10 cities of the Kurdistan province.

The Quick Reaction Force of Basij have so far conducted tens of similar exercises, codenamed ‘Towards Beitol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem)’, throughout Iran to increase their power and capabilities in confrontation against potential enemy threats against the country.

Commanders have said that Basij would continue training its units to enhance their power for confrontation against enemies’ hard and soft threats.

In December, a provincial commander said that Iran has taught new combat tactics to its Basij forces during the ‘Towards Beitol-Moqaddas’ exercises.

Commander of Basij troops in the Southwestern city of Dezful Abdolamir Mohtashami voiced satisfaction in the successful exercise of Towards Beitol-Moqaddas drills on December 12-13, and said, “The two-day military exercises were conducted to increase the preparedness of Ashura and Beitol-Moqaddas battalions in the Quds garrison of Dezful city.”

He underlined that better acquisition and practice of new combat and defense tactics have been among the main objectives achieved during the drills.

“These maneuvers helped a lot to increasing the preparedness of the popular Basij forces,” Mohtashami said.

Fast reaction units of Basij Force staged massive military drills in the Northern Golestan and 8 other provinces across Iran in November.

The massive drills codenamed ‘Towards Beitol-Moqaddas’ were carried out by three operational battalions of Jundollah, Mohammad Rasulollah (PBUH) and Sarallah in Golestan province. The exercises kicked off after an order by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

“The main purpose for these wargames is to retain preparedness and increase the combat capability of the forces to confront any possible move by domestic and foreign enemies,” Lieutenant Commander of Golestan’s Neynava Corps Hossein Karimi told FNA.

He reiterated that these wargames will continue throughout the year.