Tehran, Dec 7 (Reporter) Iran initiated the evacuation of its military leaders and personnel from Syria, The New York Times reported, citing regional and three Iranian officials. Top commanders from the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were reportedly among those evacuated to neighboring Iraq and Lebanon. The evacuation also included IRGC members, some Iranian diplomatic staff, their families and Iranian civilians, the newspaper reported. Some of those being evacuated are reportedly departing by plane to Tehran, while others are using land routes to reach Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port of Latakia. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (formerly known as the Nusra Front, banned in Russia) and a number of other armed groups launched a large-scale operation against the Syrian government on November 29, advancing from the north of the northwestern region of Idlib towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama. A day later, Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, came under the complete control of the militants for the first time since the beginning of the conflict in the country in 2011. On December 5, the Syrian Defence Ministry said that the Syrian armed forces had withdrawn from the city of Hama after fierce battles with militants...////...