WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) Iranian protected Hezbollah & Syrian army capture fresh Qalamoun territory

The Daily Star – 10 June 2015 – BEIRUT: Hezbollah and the Syrian army captured fresh territory from Nusra Front militants outside a northern Qalamoun town Wednesday, Al-Manar TV reported, as clashes continued for a second day with ISIS on Lebanon’s northeastern border.  The Hezbollah-run channel said the allied forces took over the areas of Shaabat al-Tasme and Shaabat Wadi al-Ahmar on the southern outskirts of government-held Jarajeer, destroying three military vehicles and a bulldozer. It said jihadis suffered “dozens of casualties” in the clashes, while the areas of Ras al-Koush and a section of al-Qadoumi Valley, were now under their firepower.

A security source told The Daily Star that 10 jihadis were killed in the battle.

The clashes took place on the southern outskirts Jarajeer, located about 8 kilometers northeast of the Syrian village of Flita.Hezbollah also clashed for a second day Wednesday with ISIS militants on the eastern outskirts of Lebanon’s Ras Baalbek, about 20 kilometers northwest of the fighting near Jarajeer. Al-Manar said Wednesday that Hezbollah rocket fire destroyed two military vehicles belonging to ISIS on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, killing the militants inside. Footage provided to Al-Manar showed one of the attacks. In it, a Hezbollah fighter fires a Russian Kornet anti-tank missile at an ISIS vehicle that appeared to be at least a couple kilometers away, striking it with pinpoint accuracy. Separate footage taken at the site of Tuesday’s clashes showed several ISIS corpses strewn on the rugged ground along with a variety of weapons seized from them. The weapons included grenades, explosives, rifles, ammunition and military fatigues.

Al-Manar said that Tuesday’s fighting on Lebanon’s northeastern border, sparked when ISIS militants attacked four Hezbollah posts in the outskrits of Ras Baalbek, left 50 militants dead and 80 others wounded. It was the most deadly fighting between Hezbollah and militants since the beginning of the Qalamoun offensive on May 4. Hezbollah is aiming to trap jihadis on Arsal’s outskirts, located about 7 kilometers south of Ras Baalbek, where ISIS and the Nusra Front have been holding 25 Lebanese serviceman captive since August.

Arsal’s northern outskirts, east of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, are controlled by ISIS, while Nusra Front jihadis have been in control of the town’s eastern and southern outskirts. But Nusra has lost much of that territory since Hezbollah began moving toward Arsal more than one week ago. Al-Manar reported this week that Nusra has lost 90 percent of the territory it had controlled in Qalamoun before the start of the offensive, which began in southern Qalamoun and moved north toward Arsal. Tensions with ISIS may prevent Nusra from fleeing north amid the Hezbollah push. Nusra is largely surrounded by Hezbollah from the south, Hezbollah and the Syrian army from the east, ISIS from the north and the Lebanese Army from the west.