By Mustafa Melih Ahishali

ISTANBUL 

Three members of the Afghan Shia Fatemiyoun Division -- which is linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps -- have been killed in Syria, Iran’s private Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday.

According to local media reports, one of the slain fighters has already been buried in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad, while funerals for the remaining two will be held later this week in Iran’s city of Isfahan.

It remains unclear when and where the three fighters were killed or who they had been fighting at the time.

The Fatemiyoun Division is an Iranian-backed armed group made up exclusively of Afghan Shia fighters.

In recent years, members of the division have fought in Syria -- alongside Iranian troops and other Shia militias -- in support of Syria’s Assad regime.

Iran hosts an estimated three million Afghans, many of whom have fled persecution and armed conflict in their home country.