News
Hezbollah chief says group to take on Al-Nusra in Syria
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah yesterday threatened to take the fight against Sunni Islamists into Syria, in a further indication of Hezbollah’s deep involvement in the country’s Civil War.
Hezbollah has fought side by side with Syrian government troops loyal to President Assad on many occasions during the four-year conflict. In 2013, Hezbollah was almost entirely responsible for recapturing the town of Qusair on Assad’s behalf. However, opposition groups committed to Assad’s downfall appear to have made serious gains within the last several weeks, recapturing the city of Idlib and threatening suburbs of the capital Damascus.
Nasrallah was quoted in the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar earlier this week saying that the fall of Assad would also mean the fall of the “axis of resistance” consisting of Iran, Hezbollah and Syria. President Assad is reportedly concerned over recent military losses and in particular threats to the Qalamoun Mountains region on the Lebanon-Syria border, which is the main point of entry for Hezbollah fighters and arms reinforcements. It has also been a major flashpoint for clashes between pro-Assad and opposition forces in recent months.
As a result, Nasrallah yesterday vowed to launch an offensive in Syria against Sunni Islamist opponents of Assad such as the Al-Nusra Front and ISIS forces which are also thought to be in region. He said in a televised address that “when we start, we will not issue a statement. When we begin, the operation will speak for itself.” He added that groups such as the Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, requires “radical treatment.”
Earlier this year, Hezbollah’s deep involvement in Syria was highlighted by an apparent Israeli air strike near the Syria-Israel border, which killed six Hezbollah operatives planning a cross-border attack. Among those killed were a high-profile district commander, Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of the late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in 2008 and was thought to have been behind numerous terror attacks abroad.