Arsal Municipal Chief Says Hizbullah's Qalamoun Battle Has Not Reached Town

Municipal chief of Arsal Ali al-Hujeiri stressed that the battles between Hizbullah and the Syrian regime against opposition groups have not reached the northeastern border town, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.

He told the daily: “Hizbullah does not have any fighters in Ras Baalbek or on the outskirts of Arsal.”

“It is not in the party's interest to expand the area of its fighting because this is a very large area,” he explained in reference to the ongoing battles for control of the Syrian border area of al-Qalamoun.

Hujeiri emphasized that the fighting is currently limited to the outskirts of Brital and Baalbek in Lebanon and the Assal al-Wared in Syria.

Fighting intensified in the past week in the mountainous al-Qalamoun region across the border from Lebanon, where militants from the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front are entrenched.

Hizbullah and Syrian government troops took control on Thursday of strategic heights in al-Qalamoun that abuts Lebanon's eastern border.

The control of the area on the outskirts of Assal al-Wared came following heavy clashes with al-Nusra Front.

Later in the week, Hizbullah fighters backed by the Syrian army completely seized the outskirts of al-Juba town, which forced Islamists militants to flee the area towards Ras al-Maarah, Fleita and al-Rahwa, along the Lebanese border.

M.T.