Report: Hizbullah Readying to Attack Islamist Fighters along Lebanon's Border

by Naharnet Newsdesk 13 March 2015, 08:14

Hizbullah is reportedly mobilizing and preparing to carry out a wide-range attack on more than one axis in the rebel-held areas in the Syrian Qalamoun region and on Lebanon's Eastern Mountain range.

A source close to Hizbullah revealed in comments to the Italian news agency Adnkronos (AKI) that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Syrian regime forces will back the party's assault on militant posts.

The source said Hizbullah had waged a stake that the harshness of the winter in Qalamoun, strategically located on the Lebanese border, would limit the movement of the Islamist fighters and reduce their areas of control.

However, the failure of the party's expectation compelled Hizbullah to stage the wide-area operation to force the rebels to retreat.

“The party's strategy during winter failed to block the key rebel supply line,” the source told the news agency, fearing that the rebels have stepped up their readiness for a battle in the spring.

When the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, the Lebanese eastern border town of Arsal served as a key conduit for refugees, rebels and wounded people fleeing strife-torn Syria, but the Lebanese army stepped up it's security measures in the village to stop infiltrations.

It was overran in August by gunmen belonging to the two al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who withdrew from the town by taking several soldiers and policemen hostage. Four have been so far executed.

Though ISIL and al-Nusra Front both have roots in al-Qaida, IS has formally broken with the group, while Nusra is its official branch in Syria.

Despite ideological similarities, the two groups are opposed and in conflict with each other in other parts of Syria, particularly in the north.

But in Qalamoun, their fighters battled the regime and Hizbullah forces alongside each other, with support from some smaller Islamist rebel groups.

H.K.

G.K.

https://naharnet.com/stories/en/171269