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Accusations Mount of Hizbullah Fighting in Syria
(Christian Science Monitor) Nicholas Blanford - Hussein, a former irrigation engineer, today heads a small unit of the Free Syrian Army's Jusiyah Martyrs' Brigade. Nearly two weeks ago, Hizbullah held a prominent funeral for Ali Nassif, a senior commander who died "while performing his jihadi duties." Hussein claims that Nassif was deliberately targeted for assassination. "We waited for him to emerge from a school which they use as a command post. When we saw a black Grand Cherokee with tinted windows leave the school, we guessed it was him and hit it with an RPG." He and other members of the Jusiyah Martyrs' Brigade claim that their most formidable foes in Syria are not Syrian Army soldiers, but battle-hardened veteran Hizbullah fighters. "The regime's soldiers are cowards against us. But we fear the Hizbullah men," says Hussein. He encountered some Hizbullah fighters on the road and approached them with bottles of water, pretending to be a supportive civilian. "None of them were under 35 years old. They were very professional and tough fighters. You can tell they are superior fighters from the way they move in battle and how they fight," he says.