Hezbollah terrorists now fighting in Syria

Great. It's a win-win.

(BBC) The Syrian opposition is heightening the rhetoric against Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia group allied to Bashar al-Assad's embattled regime.

It has been accused of recently launching a ground incursion into Syria and of having previously sent fighters over the border to help the regime crush the opposition.

Hezbollah is not the only Lebanese party suspected of getting involved in the conflict.

Its arch-rival in Lebanon, the Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, has also been accused of supplying the Syrian rebels with arms and money.

But according to Hezbollah's detractors, the party's involvement in Syria now goes well-beyond logistical support.

"For months Hezbollah has been shelling targets in the Syrian governorate of al-Qusair from Hermel in Lebanon," says Louai al-Meqdad, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, the armed group battling President Assad.

Mr Meqdad is referring to a group of towns in Syria just across the porous border with Lebanon. Passage from one side to the other is as natural as the blood ties that bind residents on either side together.

Overlooking al-Qusair from the Lebanese side is a string of towns with a large Hezbollah support base. The Syrian opposition has accused Hezbollah of using the towns as a base to send fighters into Syria.

"Now they have gone further," says Mr Meqdad. "They've actually taken positions in some border towns inside Syria."

According to Mr Meqdad, the Syrian regime seems to have handed over operations in al-Qusair to Hezbollah so its own troops can be redeployed to Damascus where they are more urgently needed.

"Al-Qusair will be the graveyard of Hezbollah if they ever think of invading it," he adds.

It is easy to see why the area is so fiercely contested.

According to Hilal al-Khashan, professor of political science in the American University of Beirut, the battle for al-Qusair is vital.

"It's the most strategic junction in Syria. Whoever controls it controls the road to Damascus and Homs," he says.

"It's also a very important supply route for the rebels. Through it, supporters of the opposition in Syria are supplying rebels with ammunition."

Little evidence has emerged of any military involvement on Hezbollah's part, but opponents have pointed to the funerals of several of its fighters last year.

The party said they died while "fulfilling their Jihadi duty", without specifying the nature of the duty or where the deaths occurred.

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