Hizbullah, Syrian Army Take Control of New Hilltop in Qalamoun
Hizbullah backed by the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad allegedly captured Saturday a new position in al-Qalamoun battle.
Fighters reportedly seized Sadr al-Bustan hilltop, inflicting casualties among the ranks of jihadists, Hizbullah's mouthpiece al-Manar said.
The report said that several militants fled the area after it was taken by Hizbullah and the Syrian Forces.
Al-Nusra Front-affiliate Jaish al-Fatah announced that a Hizbullah member, who was killed in Qalamoun, was buried in the area.
The group shared via its Twitter account a picture of Abbas Hassan Yassine's corpse, his driving license and a neck chain indicating that he was a member of Hizbullah.
Yassine's funeral procession was reportedly held last week in his hometown in the Bekaa Valley.
In the past two weeks, Hizbullah says it has secured around a third of the Qalamoun region, on both the Lebanese and Syrian sides of the porous border.
The area of roughly 1,000 square kilometers is a landscape of imposing hillsides riddled with caves, and open valleys full of scrub and wildflowers.
The fate of Qalamoun is particularly important for Hizbullah, which has long defended its intervention in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's troops as key to the security of Lebanon.
Hizbullah cites that fear of militants (from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front) sweeping through Shiite and Christian villages in diverse Lebanon as one of the main reasons for their involvement in Syria.
Some observers however fear the Qalamoun offensive could prompt Islamist militants to launch attacks in Shiite areas of Lebanon itself, including Beirut's southern suburbs.
The IS and Nusra Front have infiltrated Lebanon in the past, and last August briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal, taking with them several soldiers and policemen hostage. Four of whom have been executed.
H.K.
D.A.
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