TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi revealed that the US is using criminals as paid mercenaries to fight against the Yemeni and Syrian people.

"The US has hired the Takfiri groups and the Blackwater thugs to fight against Muslims in Yemen and Syria in proxy wars," Naqdi said, addressing a gathering in the Northern city of Sari on Wednesday.

"Many of those who are committing genocide under the name of Blackwater have criminal record and have committed murder," he added.

His remarks came as the Yemeni army and popular forces killed several Blackwater militias in an attack on a military base in the province of Ta'iz.

A sum of 4 Blackwater mercenaries, including two British, an American and a South African paramilitary troop, were killed in an attack on their military base in Zobab region in Ta'iz province.

"The Yemeni attack killed former British navy commander George William Castle, former British special forces officer Mark Judd Hart, American national Eshaq Bikark and South African national Alfred Banoushka," the Arabic-language Al-Masira news channel quoted an unnamed military source as saying on Wednesday.

The town of Zobab is located 40 kilometers to the North of Bab al-Mandeb and is of strategic importance.

Many more Blackwater mercenaries have been killed in the Yemeni attacks in recent weeks.

On December 9, 14 Blackwater mercenaries, including a British, a French, an Australian and six Colombians were killed in an attack on Al-Amri military base in Zobab region in Ta'iz province near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Yemeni Army Spokesman Sharaf Luqman has said that the Blackwater forces dispatched to Yemen comprise Al-Nusra, the ISIL and Al-Qaeda terrorists.

By Fars News Agency