According to Zohair Mojahed, an Afghani official in Fatimid Brigade, 2,000 Afghan soldiers were killed and more than 8000 were wounded in Syria in the past five years.

The Fatimid Brigade is comprised of former fighters of the Shi’ite Hazarah Afghan minority. The minority had previously fought against the Taliban. It had also fought alongside Iran during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

Mojahed said that some 3,000 Afghans were killed in that war.

Tehran grants Iranian nationality to foreign fighters killed in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.