Zero Hour Approaches in Al-Zabadani: the SAA and Hezbollah Surround the City

For the last two weeks, the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” – alongside their allies from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and the Free Syrian Army’s “Al-Zabadani Brigades” – have been under a brutal siege that has deprived them of necessary supplies and an exit route from the resort-city of Al-Zabadani.

This siege has paved the way for the Syrian Arab Army’s 63rd Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division and the Hezbollah forces to not only secure another border-crossing into the Beqa’a Governorate of Lebanon, but also, capture one of the rebel’s longest held cities.

As of recently, the Islamist rebel forces have suffered defeat after defeat in Al-Zabadani; this has allowed the SAA’s 63rd Brigade and Hezbollah to cutoff the rebels main supply route from the nearby town of Madaya to this resort-city located in the heart of the Western Mountains.

On Thursday, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah continued to tighten the chokehold around the remaining militants inside of Al-Zabadani; thus issuing another warning to Jabhat Al-Nusra and company to surrender or face death inside the city’s downtown.

With dawn approaching on Friday, Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces prepare for zero hour in the city of Al-Zabadani, despite repeated warnings of reprisals from Jabhat Al-Nusra and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham.

Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces have already rejected the Jabhat Al-Nusra threat regarding the obstruction of water to Syria’s capital, along with the threat to besiege the predominately Shi’i villages of Kafraya and Al-Fou’aa if they do not halt their offensive in Al-Zabadani.

Now, the waiting game begins: when will the final assault come?