Qalamoun victories ‘frustrate’ March 14: HezbollahThe Daily Star/June. 07, 2015 /BEIRUT: March 14 officials do little to hide their frustration and sense of failure with every victory Hezbollah achieves against jihadi militants along the Syria-Lebanon border, the deputy head of the party’s executive council said this weekend. “Our fight against takfiri terrorists on the outskirts of Arsal does not mean that we want to relay a message to any of our partners in government,” Sheikh Nabil Qaouk said in a speech at a Hezbollah ceremony, according to remarks released Sunday. “And we don’t want the March 14 coalition to sense any defeat,” he added. But “we regret that every time the resistance is triumphant, we see frustration and despair on the faces of [March 14 officials] who put themselves in the position of defeat.”Hezbollah has been fighting jihadi militants on the outskirts of Lebanon’s northeast town of Arsal over the past week, capturing more than a dozen positions and hilltops from Nusra Front-led fighters. The offensive began more than one month ago on the southern end of the Qalamoun mountain range on Syria’s western border with Lebanon. Fighters from Hezbollah, the Syrian army and their allies slowly moved north toward Arsal’s outskirts, killing hundreds of jihadis and capturing large swaths of territory. The party official also said Sunday that “the victories of the resistance in Qalamoun and Arsal’s outskirts exposed domestic conspirators who wanted to protect the militants who slaughtered Lebanese soldiers and sent car bombs into Lebanon.”Qaouk’s comments come in light of growing tensions between Hezbollah and the Future Movement over the Qalamoun offensive, and its warning that it would enter the outskirts of Arsal to push jihadis out of Lebanon if the Army didn’t take action. March 14 officials say only the Lebanese Army can protect the country’s borders, arguing that Hezbollah’s actions in Syria endanger Lebanon. They also accuse Hezbollah of trying to draw the Army into conflict in Arsal.
Nusra militants flee fresh Hezbollah push near Arsal
The Daily Star/Jun. 07, 2015/BEIRUT: Hezbollah fighters pushed further into the outskirts of a northeastern Lebanese border town Sunday, capturing a set of peaks from Nusra Front jihadis who fled toward a Syrian refugee camp, Al-Manar TV reported. The Hezbollah-run station said its fighters’ latest offensive on the southeastern outskirts of Arsal left scores of militants dead or wounded. Sunday’s advance forced the militants to flee toward a Syrian refugee camp and an amusement park situated in Wadi al-Hosn, which is very close to Arsal, Al-Manar said. It added that Hezbollah captured a set of peaks southeast of the Lebanese border town. The hilltop positions overlook the areas of Wadi Atnin and Wadi al-Khayl, which reportedly serve as important bases for Syrian jihadis. Further east, Hezbollah and the Syrian army captured the Al-Hamra-Qusair crossing which links the outskirts of the Syrian town of Flita to the outksirts of Arsal, Al-Manar said. Separately, the Lebanese Army pounded militant positions on the outskirts of Arsal with rockets. The military also carried out patrols inside the town, security sources said. On Saturday, Al-Manar said that Hezbollah fighters and Syrian army soldiers captured the Sadr al-Bustan hill, thereby taking control of the outskirts of Flita. Fighting in the area had been going on for weeks. The report said dozens of jihadis were killed during the fighting. The militants who fled the battle were forced to retreat to an ISIS-controlled zone named Jarjeer on Arsal’s outskirts, Al-Manar said. ISIS controls most of the areas north of Arsal, as well as large parts of areas bordering the Lebanese towns of Al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek.
