Syrian Army, Hizbullah Enter Rebel Bastion of Yabrud

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Syrian forces entered the key rebel bastion of Yabrud on Friday, one of the last opposition-held areas near the border with Lebanon, a military source told Agence France Presse.

"The Syrian army on Friday entered the town of Yabrud north of Damascus from the east, and advanced along the town's main street," the source said.

"The rebels are fleeing towards Rankus village" to the south. "If their flight continues, the capture of the city is only a matter of days."

Earlier, state television reported Syrian army units advancing in the Yabrud area, saying they "now control its eastern approaches and northeastern boundary."

The broadcaster said the assault had caused a "breakdown in the ranks of terrorist groups," the government term for rebels battling President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Hizbullah was spearheading the fight to dislodge insurgents from Yabrud.

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on civilian, medical and military sources for its information, said earlier Syrian forces "drove the rebels off the hill of Aqaba" outside the town.

"Fierce fighting is also taking place on the northern edge, between the town of Sahel and Yabrud," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"They want to completely encircle the Yabrud rebels to dislodge them."

The al-Qaida-linked jihadist group Al-Nusra Front admitted "one position at Aqaba has fallen... causing brother fighters to fall back to rear bases."

But it denied rebels were retreating, insisting that reinforcements were on the way.

The battle for Yabrud is vital for Hizbullah, which first admitted its fighters were fighting alongside Assad's forces in spring 2013.

Hizbullah wants to sever a key rebel supply line to the Bekaa town of Arsal across the border in eastern Lebanon.

It says car bombs that have been used to attack its strongholds inside Lebanon were loaded with explosives in Yabrud and then driven via Arsal to their targets.

On another front in the complex struggle pitting regime loyalists against mainstream rebels and rebels against jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL on Friday withdrew its fighters from Idlib province in the northwest and Latakia in the west, the Observatory said.

"ISIL is no longer able to defend his fighters" in these areas because of clashes with other rebel factions, it said, adding the withdrawal began a week ago.

"Rebel brigades were about to engage them," it added.

Spurned because of its abuses of civilians and extreme interpretation of Islam, ISIL had already pulled out of several areas in the northern province of Aleppo since January.

It is now entrenched in Raqa province east of Aleppo.

The conflict between mainstream insurgents and jihadists has killed 4,000 people since January, says the Observatory, which estimates an overall death toll of more than 146,000 in three years of fighting in Syria.

Comments 12
Thumb zahle1 14 March 2014, 18:47

Rafehh, it is true what you say about the Syrian regime. I agree. But can't you say the same about Nusra/ISIL? Have you seen what they do? It is a shame we have to pick.

Thumb zahle1 14 March 2014, 23:43

Cedre, I am not pro Assad. My family has had many losses at his hands for no reason, we did nothing to Syria but they starved us and killed many women and children. I will not forget that. However, look at what is happening to churches in Syria right now. To priests, to bishops nuns... This is not propaganda. This stuff is happening, it is real. These Sunni extremists are slaughtering Christians like its nothing and desecrating our churches. So I stand by my comment above. It is a shame that nobody is really our friend.

Thumb zahle1 15 March 2014, 02:29

Also yes everything you say about Chouf and why Christians left Lebanon and Assad is true. I agree. But this is what I mean when I say we don't have friends. Pick another country where we have the other side in power. KSA, Egypt... Pick a country. Its not better. I'm not saying Assad is the answer remember. I'm just saying that I am not comfortable with Nusra/ISIL allies running Syria. I appreciate if there are Muslims standing by Christians from Egypt to Iraq. I know there are. I just don't see enough love by the masses.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 15 March 2014, 03:54

Zahle1 - I do not support any party that claim mandate from God be it Hizbollah, ISIL or Nusra. However, one must not confuse the deranged people of ISIL with reasonably decent but misguided Nusra. If you read Human Rights organizations report (google human rights watch syria for example), you will see that the biggest criminal and by far is the regime , followed by ISIL. The rebels are fighting both these monsters.The rebels and supporters have lost more than 2000 people against ISIL over t

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 15 March 2014, 03:57

Over the last few months. On many occasion, this regime was providing ISIL air and artillery cover. When rebel-controlled Allepo was being flattened to the ground few weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to ISIL-controlled area like Azzaz because they knew the regime would not attack. Hours after ISIL was forced to withdraw from Azzaz and the rebel entered, guess whose airforce dropped barrels full of exposive of the city!

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 15 March 2014, 04:01

I understand why many Christians would be scared. Heck, I am a Muslim and I am very scared from the likes of ISIL. But it is the rebels and not the regime that is fighting and defeating this monster. And as I will not accept ISIL or the like of ISIL, I will not accept this monstrous regime and those who do have lost all pretenses to decency.

Thumb cedre 15 March 2014, 05:13

+1000 rafehh

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 15 March 2014, 11:11

FT - You seem to have lost your ability to read. Re-read what I wrote.

Default-user-icon karim (Guest) 14 March 2014, 19:55

batikh yekaser ba3do. Whomever thinks this protracted war will be over soon is mistaken. This will drag on for a while, mitel film hindi tawil.
Keep your supplies of popcorn and enjoy the show.

Thumb zahle1 15 March 2014, 02:33

The nuns. The poor nuns. The nuns are afraid for the other people either occupied by or threatened by Nusra. Anyone with these stupid ridiculous black flags are bad.

Thumb cedre 15 March 2014, 03:28

maybe u're right, maybe u're wrong, maybe hadi abdallah that stayed with them is telling the truth when he's saying that sister pelagia told him she was happy to help to free other syrian women, even if mslims...
Anyway by the logic of some here against sunnis helping sunnis in syria, lebanese state should not care about them or the bishops coz they're not lebanese...

Thumb .mowaten. 15 March 2014, 19:38

yea, it's so much more moral when it's Chechens, Libyans and Saudis slaughtering Syrians like cattle.