Syrian Rebels Target Hizballah

A string of bombings, rocket attacks and assassination attempts has brought the Syrian civil war into Hizballah's Lebanese stronghold.

Hizballah has found itself unable to keep Syria's rebel factions from attacking its assets deep inside Lebanon. The group became subject to reprisals ever since it began fighting alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year.

The terror group's activities helped turn the tide in al-Assad's favor and was instrumental in helping government troops seize the strategic town of Qusayr last month.

Syrian rebels hit the terror group earlier this month in its bastion of Dahiyeh, a suburb located south of Beirut, injuring more than 50 people.

Amin Hoteit, a former Lebanese army officer close to Hizballah told the BBC that the attack revealed the weakness of the Syrian rebels and their inability to win on the battlefield.

Hizballah convoys on their way to Syria have occasionally been hit by roadside bombs, including one last week

"These attacks will not inflict a lot of harm on Hizballah but they will keep it on its toes," Hoteit said. "These tactics aim to disperse Hizballah's capacities and to force it to stay on high alert, therefore, to exhaust its forces and distract it from achieving other plans."

In addition to being militarily involved in Syria, Hizballah faces deep sectarian divides within Lebanon. Rebel groups threaten to bring the war into Lebanon, which suffered its own brutal civil war between 1975 and 1990.

"Hizballah brought it on itself," Wehbe Qaticha, a military expert close to the opposition March 14 coalition, told the BBC. "Hizballah's intervention in Syria is an Iranian decision to comment on the issue."

The rebel Free Syrian Army initially threatened to target Hizballah in Lebanon back in February, before the Shiite terrorist group admitted that it was fighting alongside the Assad forces. A related group, the Syrian National Council, issued a statement Tuesday calling for Hizballah's leaders to be put on trial for crimes it may have committed in Syria.

Hizballah's involvement in Syria was among the reasons that the European Union decided to blacklist the group this week.

Reader comments on this item

Hezbollah have good relations with Christian FPM in Lebanon: who is killing Christians and supporting al-Qaeda?

Submitted by Lee Jay Walker, Jul 23, 2013 18:45

Hello, this amazingly biased article negates to state that leaders within the FSA openly support and fight side-by-side with al-Qaeda affiliates like al-Nusra (sometimes they kill each other also over the spoils of war). Therefore, if the Investigative Project on Terrorism is against al-Qaeda and is highlighting anti-Christian realities under the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt - then what happened?

Also, when Qusayr was retaken by the Syrian armed forces and Hezbollah, the defiled Christian church done by forces supported by Gulf and Western states was re-consecrated. Of course, the author knows full well that it is anti-Syrian government forces which have kidnapped Christian bishops, killed priests and cleansed Christians and other minorities like the Alawites and Shia. One young Christian girl was forced to marry 15 different Sunni Islamists until she went crazy and was killed. Therefore, these so-called "rebels" openly behead while praising Allah and yes, they are supported by Saudi Arabia which is spreading Takfiri and Salafi versions of Islam alongside Qatar.

In Lebanon the Hezbollah organization and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) which is overwhelmingly Christian have very good relations. Michel Aoun in Lebanon, just like all leading Christian leaders in Syria, is alarmed by the Gulf and Western backed Takfiris.

How is it that Christians in Lebanon have strong political ties with Hezbollah and that in Syria the minority Christian community is protected by the Syrian armed forces - yet, the FSA and al-Qaeda terrorist groups openly persecute and cleanse all minorities? If this current reality is false, then someone should tell that to leading Christian bishops in Lebanon and Syria.

Also, turning closer to home then obviously September 11 was done by Sunni Islamist terrorists just like the recent Boston reality and Benghazi were done by individuals who follow the same sect. Are the FBI in America and Homeland Security really worried about radical Shia groups - or, are they worried about Sunni Islamist militants?

The same applies to the United Kingdom because the London bombing and the brutal murder of Lee Rigby were done by Sunni Islamist militants.

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