Hizbullah Securing Gains in Battle against Nusra, Army Stops Militants' Infiltration

On the second day of its operation against al-Nusra Front militant group entrenched on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal, Hizbullah was able to secure gains, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

Hizbullah fighters “secured gains as they caught the hills of Wadi al-Khayl and al-Qanzah following heavy clashes with the Nusra terrorists,” NNA said.

The agency later added that Hizbullah has also seized full control of Jwar al-Sheikh, Wadi Kraydi, al-Dalil al-Abdyad and Serj Qwaiys in the outskirts.

The group's fighters waged fierce battles in one of the valleys in Arsal's outskirts, while heavy shelling was reported later on in Wadi al-Khayl, NNA later reported.

Early on Saturday, sounds of sporadic shelling on the south-eastern positions of Arsal could still be heard, as the Lebanese army strictly tightened measures to keep armed militants from escaping into the town, it said.

Clashes between Hizbullah fighters and the militants were ongoing mainly in al-Rahweh plain and Dahret al-Houwweh post.

Hizbullah's media outlets said earlier that its fighters had seized full control of said posts amid "deaths and injuries among the ranks of the al-Nusra Front militants."

Meanwhile, the army cordoned the area implementing strict security measures to preserve security inside and around Arsal, and to prevent armed militants from infiltrating or seeking refuge in the town.

Later during on Saturday, NNA said that Military Forces shelled a group of militants in Wadi al-Dam following an attempt to infiltrate towards an army checkpoint in Arsal.

The agency had reported that the shelling of gunmen positions with artillery went on all through the night with the support of the Syrian warplanes. Sound of shelling were clearly heard after midnight in the towns adjacent to the Eastern Mountain Range.

On Friday, Hizbullah said it had begun an operation against militants on both sides of the country's eastern border with Syria “to purge outskirts of Arsal and Qalamoun of armed terrorists.”

The operation has been anticipated for several weeks, and comes after Lebanese soldiers carrying out raids on Syrian refugee camps in the area were met with suicide bombings and a grenade attack.