BEIRUT: Hezbollah and the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda have fought a deadly five-day battle in Syria near the border with Lebanon, a Hezbollah source and a fighter for the Nusra Front said yesterday.
Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim militant group that has fought alongside troops loyal to President Bashar Al Assad in Syria’s civil war, now in its fourth year. Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front is a Sunni militia that considers all Shias heretics deserving death.
A Nusra Front member said Hezbollah had lost many fighters over the past few days during clashes in Syria’s Qalamoun mountains. On Wednesday, Hezbollah tried to enter Syria from two Lebanese villages on the border when they were ambushed by Nusra Front fighters.
“We saw them trying to sneak in,” he said. “We waited for them, and when they arrived and before they were able to load their guns or rocket-propelled grenades, we attacked. Some of them escaped.”
A Hezbollah source said the group had lost three fighters during the Wednesday assault, upping the death toll to nine Hezbollah fighters killed in the area this week. A Lebanese security source said 26 Nusra Front fighters had been killed this week in the area of the fighting, 3 km from the Lebanese town of Arsal.
REUTERS
