Six Militants Killed, Nine Captured in Zabadani Clashes
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Hezbollah and the Syrian army killed six militants and captured nine as they advanced further toward the center of the Syrian town of Zabadani near Lebanon’s border.
A security source told The Daily Star Hezbollah also lost two fighters during the last 24 hours of clashes.
The allied forces also seized control of the Al-Jisr neighborhood and Idrissi School, the source added, in what their commanders saw as “a major advancement.”
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that the main street in the western part of Zabadani was now in the hands of the two armies, saying there was “confusion” among the ranks of militants.
The developments come two days after the collapse of a cease-fire that had halted the attacks on Zabadani in return for Syrian militants stopping their offensives in Kefraya and Foua in the Syrian Idlib province.
Extremist groups heavily shelled the two villages over the weekend, the source said.
Hezbollah and the Syrian army’s offensive in Zabadani is largely considered an attempt by the two allies to bolster their control of land routes between Lebanon and Syria and sever militants' supply lines.
Zabadani is located 50 kilometers northwest of Damascus and 12 kilometers northeast of Lebanon’s Masnaa border crossing.
