BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Thursday that his Lebanese militant group, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, would be by Damascus’s side as Islamist-led militants press a sweeping offensive.
In a televised address, Qassem denounced “terrorist groups” who want to “destroy Syria again... to bring down the government” and “create chaos.”
“They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria’s side in thwarting the goals of this aggression as much as we can,” Qassem said.
He did not elaborate on what sort of support his group might provide, but Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in its war with Israel which ended with a fragile ceasefire on November 27, the day the Syria militants launched their offensive.
Qassem accused the United States and Israel of supporting “takfiri” factions, a term the Shiite Muslim group uses to refer to jihadists or supporters of radical Sunni Islam.
Militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, and allied factions launched the surprise attack and have since seized the major cities of Aleppo and Hama.
The militants’ advance in Aleppo province was in an area where pro-Iran groups including Hezbollah had previously had a significant presence, before drawing it down in recent months in the face of the war with Israel.
Hezbollah has openly backed Assad’s forces since 2013.
Hezbollah fighters helped Assad regain territory lost earlier in the civil war which broke out in 2011 after the repression of anti-government protests.
Hezbollah chief says group will be by Syria’s side amid militant offensive
https://arab.news/rt5xb
Hezbollah chief says group will be by Syria’s side amid militant offensive
- Qassem denounced “terrorist groups” who want to “destroy Syria again... to bring down the government“
- He did not elaborate on what sort of support his group might provide
Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village threatened after record rains
- The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: Perched on a hill overlooking Carthage, Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said now faces the threat of landslides, after record rainfall tore through parts of its slopes.
Last week, Tunisia saw its heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. The storm killed at least five people, with others still missing.
Narrow streets of this village north of Tunis — famed for its pink bougainvillea and studded wooden doors — were cut off by fallen trees, rocks and thick clay. Even more worryingly for residents, parts of the hillside have broken loose.
“The situation is delicate” and “requires urgent intervention,” Mounir Riabi, the regional director of civil defense in Tunis, recently told AFP.
“Some homes are threatened by imminent danger,” he said.
Authorities have banned heavy vehicles from driving into the village and ordered some businesses and institutions to close, such as the Ennejma Ezzahra museum.
- Scared -
Fifty-year-old Maya, who did not give her full name, said she was forced to leave her century-old family villa after the storm.
“Everything happened very fast,” she recalled. “I was with my mother and, suddenly, extremely violent torrents poured down.”
“I saw a mass of mud rushing toward the house, then the electricity cut off. I was really scared.”
Her Moorish-style villa sustained significant damage.
One worker on site, Said Ben Farhat, said waterlogged earth sliding from the hillside destroyed part of a kitchen wall.
“Another rainstorm and it will be a catastrophe,” he said.
Shop owners said the ban on heavy vehicles was another blow to their businesses, as they usually rely on tourist buses to bring in traffic.
When President Kais Saied visited the village on Wednesday, vendors were heard shouting: “We want to work.”
One trader, Mohamed Fedi, told AFP afterwards there were “no more customers.”
“We have closed shop,” he said, adding that the shops provide a livelihood to some 200 families.
- Highly unstable -
Beyond its famous architecture, the village also bears historical and spiritual significance.
The village was named after a 12th-century Sufi saint, Abu Said Al-Baji, who had established a religious center there. His shrine still sits atop the hill.
The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status.
Experts say solutions to help preserve Sidi Bou Said could include restricting new development, building more retaining walls and improving drainage to prevent runoff from accumulating.
Chokri Yaich, a geologist speaking to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, said climate change has made protecting the hill increasingly urgent, warning of more storms like last week’s.
The hill’s clay-rich soil loses up to two thirds of its cohesion when saturated with water, making it highly unstable, Yaich explained.
He also pointed to marine erosion and the growing weight of urbanization, saying that construction had increased by about 40 percent over the past three decades.
For now, authorities have yet to announce a protection plan, leaving home and shop owners anxious, as the weather remains unpredictable.
