RNA - “In the Arsal outskirts, over the past few days, this large advance took place and this defeat was inflicted on al-Nusra Front,” the Lebanese resistance movement’s secretary-general said in an address broadcast live in the country’s capital of Beirut on Wednesday.
He also hailed advancements made against ISIL Takfiris in the mountainous Syrian border region of Qalamoun.
According to media reports on Wednesday, the Syrian army and Hezbollah fighters cleared the valleys of al-Ahmar and al-Qaddumi in the area of Jreijeer in the mountainous region.
"Over the past few days, great achievements were made in Qalamoun and, especially, the achievements made this morning. I can say that the high mountain tops and the high mountains, they are now, all of them, under the control of the Syrian Arab Army and the fighters of the resistance.”
Lebanese broadcaster Al Manar also reported that Hezbollah and the Syrian army had captured fresh territory from Nusra Front militants outside a northern Qalamoun town on Wednesday.
“Yesterday, they attacked with hundreds of fighters and a high number of military vehicles. They attacked a number of positions for our brothers in the outskirts of Ras Baalbek (village) on the Lebanese-Syrian border,” Nasrallah further said and noted, “The resistance fighters with all courage and heroism confronted this attack.”
“We are determined to put an end to this terrorist Takfiri presence on our border area whatever be the sacrifices. This is something decided from our perspective,” he added.
The joint forces of the Syrian army, Syria’s National Defense Forces and Hezbollah fighters also tightened the noose around the terrorists near the Syrian town of Flitah and retook control of a number of hilltops overlooking the border between Syria and Lebanon.
Syria has been suffering from a deadly crisis fueled by Takfiri groups since March 2011. The conflict has reportedly claimed more than 222,000 lives up until now.
The violence has also forced over 3.8 million Syrians to take refuge in neighboring countries, namely Jordan and Lebanon. More than 7.2 million others have been displaced within Syria, according to the United Nations.
Hezbollah fighters have been engaged in battles against terrorists in the Lebanese border areas over the past weeks.
On June 3, the resistance fighters managed to clear the border heights of Majr al-Hamra and Shamis al-Hamra of the terrorists.
On May 27, scores of al-Nusra Front terrorists were killed after Hezbollah fighters, having spotted militant hideouts by means of a drone, mounted a surprise attack in an area located between Arsal and the northeastern Lebanese village of Nahle.
Hezbollah fighters and units of the Syrian army launched a joint operation on May 4 to push back the Takfiri terrorists from Qalamoun. They have so far made considerable victories over the militants, driving them out of major areas in Syria.
Earlier in his speech, Nasrallah also praised Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, describing him as an Islamic intellectual, who has direct connection with the masses and called on both Shia and Sunni Muslims to benefit from Ayatollah Khamenei’s leadership.
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