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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian army takes two villages near Lebanon |
| 2014-03-30 |
| Syrian government forces captured two villages near the border with Lebanon on Saturday after clashes with opposition fighters, cutting a major supply route for weapons and fighters into Syria, state TV said. The report said the villages of Flita and Ras Maara fell into the hands of government forces early in the day. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed troops were inside the two villages and advancing, although it had no immediate word on whether they fell to government forces. The Observatory said government forces are backed by members of Lebanonâs Hezbollah group, which openly started taking part in Syriaâs war last year against opposition forces. The villages were the latest targets of a government offensive in the rugged Qalamoun border region after troops captured the town of Yabroud earlier this month. Tens of thousands of Syrians fled into Lebanon since the Qalamoun offensive began in November. Flita, which is about 7km from the border with Lebanon, had been a major crossing point for rebels coming from across the border into Syria to fight President Bashar Assadâs forces. Syriaâs rebels draw supply, recruits and support from Sunni communities in Lebanon. Qalamoun holds strategic value for the government since it is crossed by the main north-south highway that links the capital to government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast. The TV said the villages fell after government forces âwiped out the last remnants of armed terrorist groups and destroyed its weapons and tools they used in their crimes.â The Syrian government refers to rebels as âterrorists.â An activist based near Damascus who goes by the name of Abu Yazan Al Shami who is in touch with colleagues near Yabroud confirmed that government forces have captured parts of the two villages but are still facing resistance from rebels inside. âFierce and difficult battles are taking place. It is a rugged area and both the regime and the rebels have gathered lots of fighters for this battle,â said Al Shami via Skype. He added that the main battle expected to follow Flita and Ras Maara will be the rebel-held town of Rankous in order for the government âto completely cut supplies from Lebanon into Qalamoun.â In the coastal province of Latakia, the Observatory reported that government warplanes struck areas that are witnessing clashes between rebels and troops. It said the fighting and the air raids are concentrating around the rebel-held areas of Kassab and Nabaain. Syrian troops have been trying for days to push back opposition fighters who over the past week made rare territorial gains in Assadâs ancestral heartland. Government troops have been battling for days with the rebels from several groups, including the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, that launched the offensive in the province last week. They seized a number of towns, a border crossing with Turkey and â for the first time in the 3-year-old conflict â a tiny stretch of coast giving the rebels an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea. |
| Posted by:Steve White |