Louay al-Meqdad Slams Hizbullah's Unprecedented 'Land Invasion' in Syria
An official of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Louay al-Meqdad, accused Hizbullah on Monday of carrying out an “unprecedented invasion” backed by Syrian artillery fire in villages in central Syria.
In remarks to An Nahar daily, al-Meqdad said: “Hizbullah's invasion is the first of its kind in terms of organization, planning and coordination with the Syrian regime's airforce.”
“This is the first time that Hizbullah is doing a land invasion backed by artillery fire of tanks basked in villages that it has controlled inside Syrian territories and some Lebanese border towns,” he said.
The alleged attack was carried out under “the supervision of Mustafa Badreddine and Wafiq Safa,” he added.
His comments came a day after the opposition Syrian National Council said Hizbullah fighters crossed into Homs province of central Syria on Saturday and attacked three Syrian villages in the Qusayr region near the Lebanese border.
A Hizbullah official said three Lebanese Shiites were killed in clashes in Syria while acting in "self-defense,” without specifying if they were party members.
But al-Meqdad told LBCI TV that more than 40 party members were killed in the latest clashes.
“Hizbullah's military operation began as soon as (Sayyed) Hassan Nasrallah finished his speech” on Saturday, he told An Nahar.
“The speech was the zero hour … and Nasrallah will use it to delay his next appearance so that he would not justify what happened,” he said.
The FSA member criticized the government for allegedly adopting a policy to distance itself from the regional crises, asking whether “the participation of a government faction in killing the Syrian people is considered a policy to steer themselves” clear of the Syrian war.
In his remarks to LBCI, he also accused the Lebanese government of facilitating the transfer of oil to the Syrian regime.
Last week, protesters blocked the two official crossings with Syria in northern Lebanon, claiming some diesel exported to Syria is being used by regime tanks in the country's nearly two-year-old civil war.
But the energy ministry denied reports that government-owned refineries were sending diesel to the neighboring country, saying private companies were exporting the fuel.
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