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Hizbullah Joins the Battle for Aleppo

(Ha'aretz) Anshel Pfeffer - The Syrian government's success in retaking the town of Qusayr after a three-week siege was achieved due to the assistance of hundreds of Hizbullah fighters. Syrian citizens and rebel fighters who crossed into Turkey in recent days say they have seen Hizbullah members fighting in villages and suburbs around Aleppo, where the rebels control about half of the city and its surroundings. Ahmed Ramadan, a fighter in the Free Syrian Army, said that he saw Hizbullah fighters in the suburbs of Aleppo. "They had heavy weapons, machine guns and missiles; we only had our Kalashnikovs and little ammunition." "They did not hide their identity," he said. "They wear around their heads bands saying that they are 'soldiers of Hussein, son of Ali' (founder of the Shia stream in Islam)." Hussein Hussein, a resident of Aleppo, said: "You barely see Syrians fighting anymore. The rebels now come from all the world, Afghan, Pakistanis, Chechens, Saudis, even volunteers from Europe and the U.S. On Assad's side we almost never see, any longer, soldiers who are Syrian, rather mainly Hizbullah men and Iranian officers." According to sources in Lebanon, the number of Hizbullah members killed in Syria is as high as two hundred.
2013-06-07 00:00:00
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