A European group has launched a remembrance campaign across Italy for Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani who was assassinated by US forces in Iraq in January. RNA - The European Solidarity Front for Syria (ESFS) -- which launched the campaign in honor of Gen. Soleimani -- plastered the late general’s face on posters across Italy.
Photos emerged from Rome, Milan and Turin depicting Gen. Soleimani, with social media users reacting with praise.
One poster, placed on a signpost outside the Colosseum in Rome, read: "In honor of Qassem Soleimani".
Written alongside the photo was: "There is another paradise. That is the battle scene. The battlefield of your homeland."
On its Facebook page, the ESFS wrote the campaign was aimed at honoring "the memory of a man whose commitment and dedication to the cause of the freedom and sovereignty of nations has moved and inspired millions of free men and women in the world."
"General Soleimani represented and still represents one of the most important examples of a patriot at the service of that ideal that never in the world, directly or indirectly, a nation could hinder the legitimate autonomy of another nation or oppress a people opposed to it," the ESFS wrote on its Facebook page.
The group also described Gen. Soleimani’s assassination as an "unjustifiable act of barbarism and prevarication".
US forces assassinated General Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi, and their companions by targeting their car outside Baghdad International Airport on January 3.
The terror attack took place under the direction of US President Donald Trump, with the Pentagon taking responsibility for the strike.
Both commanders were admired by Muslim nations for eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh terrorists in the region. General Soleimani, in particular, was an international figure who played a leading role in promoting peace and security in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
As foreign-backed Takfiri outfits reared their heads in recent years, the IRGC commander emerged as a key strategist and ingenious commander leading Iranian military advisers assisting Syrian and Iraqi troops in battles against terrorists.
The general was frequently pictured on the frontlines during anti-terrorism operations from Iraq’s Mosul to Syria’s Aleppo.
The US assassination of the top Iranian commander sent shock waves across the world while, at the same time, forging greater unity in the region against US interventionism, with insistent calls for revenge being echoed across the Muslim world.
Hailed by both friends and foes as a major military strategist, General Soleimani topped Foreign Policy (FP)’s 2019 list of Global Thinkers in defense and security.
Several reports have emerged about assassination plots against the commander by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia– which are believed to be among the major supporters of Takfiri terrorists wreaking havoc on the Middle East.
Many believe that Washington created the Daesh terrorist group and helped it rise and commence its reign of terror and destruction in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
The US has long been accused of colluding with Daesh to provide safe passage and logistical support to its members in conflict zones.