BEIRUT: At least 15 Hezbollah militia fighters and one mediator have been killed in clashes with militants in Lebanon close to the border with Syria, it emerged on Saturday.
Hezbollah on Friday carried out a second day of operations against fighters attached to Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS), the militant group formerly known as Al-Nusra Front, which was aligned with Al-Qaeda.
The JFS members have taken refuge in Jaroud Arsal — a barren, mountainous area on the Lebanese-Syrian borders — since war broke out in Syria’s Qalamoun region.
Local citizens told Arab News that the intensity of the military operations, backed by Syrian regime warplanes, increased on Saturday morning after a lull on Friday night.
Hezbollah said that its fighters “took control of overlooking hills and heights, adding them to the area under the party’s control.”
Forces had earlier seized other areas in the southern part of Jaroud Arsal, Hezbollah said, according to Reuters.
According to Hezbollah-run media, at least 15 members were killed in the clashes, after five of its fighters were reportedly killed on Friday.
A security source quoted by Reuters said at least 43 militants had been killed, on top of at least 23 killed on Friday, the first day of clashes.
There are, however, no independently confirmed statistics about the results of the battle, and several inaccurate reports have been circulated.
A Lebanese mediator from Arsal, in charge of negotiations with JFS on behalf of local citizens, was also killed on Saturday.
Arsal’s former Deputy Mayor Ahmad Fliti, who was mediating talks between the two sides, was killed in a shell attack that targeted his car while returning to Arsal. His death was mourned by the Lebanese army, the Lebanese politician and leader of Lebanon’s Druze community Walid Jumblatt, and the Future Movement.
A Lebanese military source said that the Jaroud Arsal battle “could be protracted due to the region’s vast and difficult terrain.”
15 Hezbollah fighters, Lebanese mediator killed in clashes with militants
15 Hezbollah fighters, Lebanese mediator killed in clashes with militants
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
