On Monday, the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” launched a Spring offensive to capture the strategic border-crossing into Lebanon at the Hezbollah controlled village of ‘Assal Al-Ward; however, the assault has not gone according to plan, as Hezbollah has overwhelmed their opponents with vicious counter-attacks.
The soldiers from Hezbollah – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) – countered the Jabhat Al-Nusra offensive with an assault of their own, as they attacked three axis points around the town of ‘Assal Al-Ward last night; this led to Hezbollah’s subsequent success on Wednesday morning.
At Sunrise on Wednesday, the soldiers from Hezbollah surprised the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra with an attack at the hills of Tal Saleh and Tal Sin Al-Jamal, killing 17 enemy combatants and destroying three armored vehicles mounted with 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns outside of ‘Assal Al-Ward.
After fierce clashes ensued for just over two hours at Tal Sin Al-Jamal and Tal Saleh, the Hezbollah soldiers were able to successfully capture the hilltops before they asserted full control over these hills, losing only three fighters during their charge at ‘Assal Al-Ward.
According to a military source in Damascus, Hezbollah has confirmed the death of two prominent field commanders belonging to Jabhat Al-Nusra’s affiliate “Kata’eb Suqour Al-Mohamadiyah”: “Abu Fatima” and “Abu Wadiya'” were identified as the deceased leaders of this organization.
Hezbollah has announced the death of three field commanders during operations in Britl (Ba’albak Governorate of Lebanon) and the Qalamoun Mountains in the last three days: ‘Ali Khalil Al-‘Ayn (Britl), Hajj Toufiq Al-Najjar (70 years old), and Hussein Qassim Al-‘Anqouni.
