Fierce Clashes between Hizbullah, Nusra Front along Lebanon's Border
Fierce clashes erupted between Hizbullah fighters and al-Nusra Front jihadists in the Syrian Qalamoun along the Lebanese border, a monitor said Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian regime troops backed by Hizbullah fighters engaged in battles with al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front on the outskirts of the strategic Syrian al-Qalamoun region along the Lebanese border.
Media reports said in Saturday eve that gunbattles erupted between Hizbullah and Nusra fighters in the town of Younine in eastern Bekaa.
Hizbullah sent fighters to Syria to back President Bashar Assad's forces against rebels trying to remove him from power. The armed intervention in Syria earned the group the enmity of Syria's predominantly Sunni rebels. Assad is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Over the past year, Syrian troops and Hizbullah fighters have captured most of the towns and villages in Syria's mountainous Qalamoun region along the Lebanon border, depriving the rebels of residential areas where they can stay during the winter.
However, Hizbullah's involvement in Syria had drawn the ire of many in Lebanon.
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