Report: Hizbullah Increased Support for Assad, Fighters Buried Discreetly

Hizbullah has ramped up its support for the Syrian government, sending in military advisers to aid the regime of President Bashar Assad in the bloody struggle against the opposition, U.S. and Lebanese government officials said.

The Washington Post quoted Lebanese officials as saying that the support has markedly increased since a July 18 bomb attack in Damascus that killed four senior security officials, including Assef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law.

“Hizbullah has been active in supporting the Syrian regime with their own militia,” said a Lebanese official allied with a political bloc opposed to Hizbullah. “They’ve been quite involved in a combat role, quite involved in fighting.”

The newspaper also quoted Lebanese officials as saying that young men loyal to Hizbullah are recruiting volunteers in some villages in south Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley to fight in Syria.

Dozens of Hizbullah fighters have been killed in Syria and a number of secret funerals for young men have been held in Shiite strongholds, they said.

The “martyrs” are buried discreetly and families are urged not to talk about the circumstances of their deaths, three officials told the Washington Post.

Obituaries for the fighters have also started appearing in local newspapers such as As Safir, one of these officials said, without the circumstances of the death being explained.

The newspaper quoted political activist Lokman Slim as saying that a large funeral was held for a senior Hizbullah military commander named Moussa Ali Shehimi in August without specifying where or how he was killed.

But the bodies of several fighters who were killed at the same time as Shehimi in Syria were returned to their families at different times, Slim said.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury imposed new sanctions on Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and two other figures in the party over their support for Assad.

Hizbullah has provided training, advice and logistical support to Assad's forces, and has facilitated training for them by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, it said.

The party has also "played a substantial role" in efforts to push rebel forces from areas inside Syria, the Treasury added.

Asked about the role that both Hizbullah and the Guards are playing in the conflict, a senior U.S. intelligence official said that both have expanded their presence and role in Syria in recent months.

But the official said it appears they have stopped short of carrying out operations or attacks.