Alwaght- The Syrian army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters have launched a joint operation against Takfiri terrorist group in border areas between the two countries.
A battle to cleanse Arsal outskirts from al-Nusra Front Takfiri terrorists started off early on Friday, the Hezbollah’s Military Media Center reported.
Hezbollah Lebanese resistance fighters, backed by Syrian warplanes and artillery, were targeting Nusra Front gatherings in Arsal outskirts and Qalamoun.
“The military operation to clear the outskirts of Arsal and Qalamoon from armed terrorists has begun,” Hezbollah’s Military Media Center said in a statement.
“There is no time limit for the operation… which will be carried out according to planned phases,” the Center said in a tweet.
Nearly 3,000 terrorists, two-third of which are from ISIS and al-Nusra Takfiri groups, have been using the barren area in the mountains between Syria and Lebanon as a base to organize attacks inside Syria.
The Lebanese army has also enhanced its deployment on the outskirts of Arsal town to prevent militants from fleeing into Lebanon, a Lebanese security source said.
Earlier in July, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave an ultimatum to the militants along the border near the country’s northeastern area of Arsal to reach an agreement with Syrian officials, warning that it was “high time to end the threat of militant groups in Arsal.”
On Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said the Lebanese army would launch an operation against Takfiri terrorists in Juroud Arsal, noting that the government has given the army the “freedom” to take action.
Hariri, however, said “there is no coordination between the Lebanese and Syrian armies.”
The Arsal area was hardly hit by the spillover of the Syria crisis in 2014, when the militants managed to overrun the town for a brief period.
