Report: Al-Nusra Front Threatens to Target Hizbullah Strongholds in Lebanon

An official in the fundamentalist al-Nusra Front has threatened to target Hizbullah strongholds in Lebanon in response to the party's involvement in the fighting in Syria alongside the country's regime, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily on Saturday.

He vowed that the front will respond to the killing of Syrians by targeting Hizbullah strongholds of Dahieh in Beirut, the Bekaa city of Baalbek, and southern Lebanon, a military leader of the Syrian opposition quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Lebanese security authorities told the daily that the security forces and army's deployment the southern Beiurt suburbs of Dahieh will not prevent car bombings from targeting the area.

They said: “The deployment in over 16 Hizbullah security zones will not prevent such attacks because those seeking to harm the party are already in the area.”

In July, al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani hit out at Hizbullah for its intervention in the Syrian conflict, warning “Shiites in Lebanon against allowing Hizbullah to drag them into a proxy war in Syria on behalf of its Iranian backers.”

"I say that abandoning Hizbullah and disowning it will save you from woes and disasters that you would do without,” he added.

In September, a joint force of 800 men composed of soldiers from the army and security services began their deployment in Dahieh, where they will take over security at checkpoints set up by Hizbullah in the wake of two bombings that hit its stronghold.