Rockets Land in Hermel Amid Qusayr Assault, Syria Opposition Accuses Hizbullah of 'Genocide'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Several rockets landed in and around Lebanon’s northeastern town of Hermel from Syria as Syrian troops backed by Hizbullah fighters launched an assault on the rebel-held central town of Qusayr.
The state-run National News Agency said around eight Grad rockets hit different areas of Hermel.
According to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), several rockets landed in a residential neighborhood, causing limited material damage.
Qusayr is home to about 20,000 residents and has been besieged for weeks by Syrian government troops.
Opposition activists said Hizbullah members launched on Sunday the assault on the town along with President Bashar Assad's troops in the area.
Qusayr is strategically important because it is close to the Lebanese border and it links Damascus with the coast, where regime loyalists are concentrated. This includes Alawites to which the Assad family belongs.
Later on Sunday, a source close to Hizbullah said four Hizbullah fighters from the Bekaa region were killed overnight in the town of Qusayr, shortly before Syrian forces began the long-expected assault.
Meanwhile, Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5) said Hizbullah transported 10 bodies and more than 17 wounded fighters from Syria into Lebanon on Sunday evening.
MTV said Hizbullah announced the death of its member Hatem Hussein who hails from the town of Srifa in Tyre District and was killed in Qusayr.
Citing reports, the TV network said a Hizbullah official called Fadi al-Jazzar was killed in Qusayr's battles and contact was lost with a group that was under his command.
It later quoted its correspondent as saying that Hizbullah members Hasan Faisal Shukur, Abbas Mohammed Othman, Mohammed Fouad Rabah, Mohammed Qassem Abdul Sater, Hajj Ahmed Wael Raad and Hajj Ridwan al-Attar were killed in Qusayr's battles.
Earlier, MTV said a group belonging to the jihadist al-Nusra Front surrendered to a Hizbullah group after its leaders fled to the Syrian town of al-Dabaa near Qusayr.
The Syrian opposition condemned "attempts to invade" the town, which it said could render U.S.-Russian attempts to organize a peace conference "meaningless."
The Syrian National Council, a key component of the opposition, denounced the "barbaric and destructive bombing" of Qusayr.
It accused the regime of working with Hizbullah to "invade the town and wipe it and its residents off the map."
"We say to the countries that are working for a political solution in Syria that allowing this invasion to go ahead in silence... will render any conference and any peace effort meaningless," the group said in a statement.
The United States and Russia are working to organize a peace conference next month, in a bid to find a political solution to the conflict.
The statement accused “forces from outside Syria of committing genocide and war crimes.”
The U.N. Security Council should “carry out its duty in preventing members of an extremist terrorist group like Hizbullah and forces that back terrorism like Iran from violating the border of our country and invading the homes of the (Syrian) people,” it said.
19 May 2013, 13:54
519
killing military personnel and killing innocent civilians are two different thing FT.
19 May 2013, 13:58
204
"The Syrian opposition condemned "attempts to invade" the town".
LOL, they invade Qusayrr with Khaliji, Pakistani, Afghani, Chechnyan, and Libyan mercenary terrorists, and then complain that it's being invaded.
FSA-Al Qaeda sure has a sense of humor.
19 May 2013, 18:18
46
Karim is flame. Look at the dash before their names. They did this at the same time!!!! Pathetico total.
19 May 2013, 13:59
183
"The U.N. Security Council should “carry out its duty in preventing members of an extremist terrorist group..."
You know something is funny when Al Qaeda is accusing others of terrorism. LOL!
19 May 2013, 14:09
310
no FT... it is the syran opposition who said this not nusra... two different things...
and can you give us hard evidence that hezbis are not fighting alongside the syrian army and shabbiha?
19 May 2013, 18:26
36
i do not feel targeted by your BS if that was what you wanted... seems you dislike being thumbed down as you are always mentioning it! LOL
19 May 2013, 19:07
34
you stay on this site because this is your job to come here and insult others :)
19 May 2013, 15:28
00
what a huge fall in an abyss:what a big difference between hizballah in maroon el rass 2006,on the soil of lebanon..and hizbzllah in kussayr on syrian soil...any difference between nusra and hizballah:they are competing for barbarism.
19 May 2013, 16:37
20
Why should a rag tag bunch of bearded terrorists (Sunnis) find it any easier to confront Hezbollah than Israeli Defense Forces did? You should remember this before you start the next Civil War. I suggest you send Harari and Baldy GaGa to the front so they can be battle tested and prepared.
19 May 2013, 18:09
12
FT IE Karim I do not really understand how can you defend a regime that butchered lebanese ppl for 25 years .
It is not that i really care ,the regime and the opposition are both syrians ,but i really find it puzzling .
You are talking about al Nusra ,Quaeda etc etc accusing them of being terrorist or whatever ,but you totally ignore what this same regime did in lebanon.
AN jadd it is so sad to see someone who claims to be lebanese publishing comments such as yours .
I am not as angry as sad to read your comments .
any dignity left in you?any respect for the thousands dead lebanese massacred by the Syrian regime ?
please please please show some respect to the fallen lebanese and their families,i am sure you would never write what you write if you had a relative or a family member who has been murdered by the Assad regime (father or son),and if you have you do not find any problem with what your are writing well .....
19 May 2013, 18:16
37
Hizballa will bury all of us alive. Retaliation will be tough whenever Assad gets dead.
19 May 2013, 18:28
27
i thought hezbis agreed on the baabda declaration of disassociation!
only big hypocrit liars who once again spit on the lebanese state... they are desperate to control that region as it is the route of their weapons... nothing to do with defending lebanese or civilians.... bunch of iranian militiamen....
19 May 2013, 18:56
16
poor bigjohn: show me one post where i defend israelis other than in your twisted M8 mind?
are israelis lebanese to abide by lebanese agreements? lol! just compare what is comparable instead of trying to deflect the issue because you know you CANNOT defend hezbi lies so as usual you accuse the others of being with israel...
how easy and typical of weak minds that have nothing to say...
19 May 2013, 19:09
26
bigjohn: in this case yes! hezbis clearly stated their involvement in syria when M14 officially says it disassociates with it...
are there any fighters in syria stating they fight on the behalf of future or LF or kataeb or whoever from M14? no...
those with the rebels are salafis fighting their laughable "jihad"...
20 May 2013, 01:33
03
Flamethrower, you are being very disrespectful. Sidon made a good point by explaining what the M14 vote comprises of and the difference between lebanese boots on ground (hizbullah fighting on Syrian soil), and you didn't even try arguing a tangible point without throwing insults. Please don't be ridiculous and give it some thought, I'll rewrite what he said, it might have come off as confusing, so I'll try my best to explain it.
20 May 2013, 01:36
02
Part 2 of post:
He claimed that Assir and other extremist elements FOR lebanese fighting AGAINST Assad are not part of the M14 composition and in fact compete directly against them. This was to explain that M14, as a party is not involved in the same way that hizbullah is involved in syria. This is important because althought Assir and the other FSA fundamentalists are not part of M14, whereas hizbullah is the main player in M8, a lebanese political party.
The point he was trying to make is that there is a significant difference when a lebanese party is directly responsible for sending troops abroad to fight alongside a very disreputable dictator.
20 May 2013, 01:41
02
part 3 of post:
Flamethrower, to answer your concern (if I understood it correctly): Is the M14 financing FSA, which could implicate them to some extent? The answer to this is not conclusive. There is clear evidence that M14 is not financially supportive of the FSA, but there are rumours that some members have been trying to negotiate purchases for the FSA, however, it is clear that none of these agreements were trades for the purpose of overthrowing Assad, but rather more probably for the gain of profit, given that no m14 party has the capability or resources to supply an army. The support given by the KSA completely obliterates any need for these rumours. The M14 position from this is clear, they politically oppose Assad, but in no way have contributed to the war in the same way that M8 has and continues to. This is a point I think you are missing.
19 May 2013, 18:40
39
"I hope Hizballah will commit genocide" are you aware of what you are writing? or is it just to try to look tough? seems you need a stay in a psychiatric hospital.....
19 May 2013, 18:48
25
true freespirit... hezbis are just fighting to preserve their supply route of weapons ! if that region falls in the hands of sunni fanatics it will be hard for hezbis to smuggle in their weapons. hezbis are not there to defend anyone, just there for their own interests with the full agreement of orangina!
19 May 2013, 19:00
14
lol your friends the hezbis keep saying they are "defending" lebanon no? they keep saying they are in syria to defend lebanese no?
so yes they are not defending other interests but their own...
so your post proves that you know that hezbis are not in syria to defend lebanese! thank you for saying it clearly after all the past denials of hezbis and FPM....
19 May 2013, 19:14
13
"You seem to believe they should be the ONLY group that must act in someone else's interest"
no bigjohn it is not what i said... what i am denouncing is the hypocrisy of the hezbis and the soup they are selling that is supported by FPM... they pretend to be there to defend lebanese villages... when they are there to back bashar s army which is in difficulty...
lebanon does not need HA they are the main source of division of the lebanese society to weaken the state and to act as the iranian armed forces in lebanon, nothing more....
19 May 2013, 22:48
02
".The state was weak and worthless since Lebanon's independence...way before HA came into existence"
yes so let it that way and welcome hezbis to weaken it even more... what a twisted logic....
19 May 2013, 18:56
72
there can be no disassotiation...we are not playing you game anymore...these foriegn terroisist qatar and ksa...are sending will die...
19 May 2013, 19:04
28
lol! so hezbis should fight in syria against saudis and qataris... why should they meddle in syrian affairs? enlighten us.... all the more that bashar declared that he didn t need the help of hezbis or iran! LOL!!!!
19 May 2013, 22:46
13
they are part of M14 because you say so and want to believe so!
i ll let you in your delirium and be happy with your FPM psychotic beliefs....
oh! and by the way stupid FT your beloved assad repeated that he does not need hezbis or iranians so what the hell are hezbis doing there? LOL see how stupid your comments can be....
19 May 2013, 19:04
14
You have good intentions bigjohn, but my wish is the reverse of yours........
I wish that all of HA and Sunni Jihadists leave Lebanon to Syria (without implicating Lebanon in a war of course). They both were made by the Syrian regime to keep Lebanon weak. How nice would it be to have every armed person who believes in violence to leave Lebanon for good (dead or alive).
19 May 2013, 19:04
26
You have good intentions bigjohn, but my wish is the reverse of yours........
I wish that all of HA and Sunni Jihadists leave Lebanon to Syria (without implicating Lebanon in a war of course). They both were made by the Syrian regime to keep Lebanon weak. How nice would it be to have every armed person who believes in violence to leave Lebanon for good (dead or alive).
20 May 2013, 01:07
11
That's the bulk of their force, it's unlikely they will absorb that many casualties without a change in strategy. Hizbullah will loose a few hundred, more so in the coming weeks, especially if the U.S and EU rule in the opposition's favor.
21 May 2013, 21:15
00
Hizbullah doesn't have enough money to support, arm and train anything beyond 10,000 under regular circumstances. They have a large support network that's civilian run. Most of their communications, intel gathering is done by civilians, family members that are related to armed operatives. but 4-8k is where most analysts put their fighting capacity. They won't send the majority of their people to Syria, that's just asking for Israel to bomb them.
20 May 2013, 01:14
03
many FSA members are regular people like you and me who had the unfortunate experience of family members and friends brutally murdered by Bashar al-Assad. There is no trick mis-statement of facts here, there were peaceful protests in Syria, and they were met with sever repression. Many people who did not affiliate directly with the protests were also beaten, taken into custody, tortured or killed. People like to delve on the idea that Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters are running the show. Don't get caught in the bullshit Syrian TV tells you, it's an insult to people who have suffered dearly by this dictator, and I sure hope you don't ever disregard his inhumane record, no matter the extremity of events.
20 May 2013, 11:02
00
When? After your "ASSad" regime falls again for the 10452nd time? wlak ste7eh ya zalameh men ketret tawa2ou3etak el sakhifeh. hal2ad enta bala 3ezzet nafs? walla 3ayb.
