Sunday 3 August 2014

Chaos as Syria rebels raid Lebanon border town of Arsal

Gunmen drive off with captives in the Lebanese border town of Arsal, 2 August

The BBC continues to tell us that Assad is winning.
"Meanwhile, Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon's Shia Muslim community are said to have taken part in an ambush on rebels inside Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad.
At least 50 rebels, including members of the Nusra Front, were killed in the attack in the Qalamoun area near the Lebanese border on Saturday, activists and security sources said."
It's harder to find out from conventional news sources that Hezbollah hasbeen suffering serious losses in its war to defend Assad.*
"Many Hezbollah fighters have recently died in the renewed clashes against Syrian rebels on several fighting fronts in al-Qalamoun villages, as the Syrian regime claims that it is bombing the Arsal plains “to prevent terrorists' infiltration.” "
Without the other side of the story, Michael Young's analysis** wouldn't make sense.
"The ongoing fighting in the Qalamoun area northwest of Damascus shows the grinding nature of the Syrian conflict, and the foolishness of Hezbollah’s belief that a corner has been turned to the advantage of President Bashar Assad’s regime. A corner has indeed been turned, but what looms ahead is something far more worrisome for Hezbollah, Assad and many others.
Lebanese sectarian relations seem manageable for now, which has been reinforced by shared Sunni and Shiite outrage with the Israeli assault on Gaza. When Nasrallah speaks about Palestine, it allows him to revert to his past persona as a unifying Arab figure, rather than as the sectarian leader he was portrayed as after Hezbollah’s entry into the Syrian conflict.
But Hamas’ appeal to Hezbollah that it open a Lebanese front against Israel may prove embarrassing. Hezbollah has no desire to enter the Gaza war today when it is so heavily committed in Syria."
*[http://www.albawaba.com/news/hezbollah-syria-593491]
**[http://www.dailystar.com.lb/…/265508-the-limits-of-hezbolla…]

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