Hezbollah rejects reports on Qalamoun casualties

Lebanon’s Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah has dismissed reports that dozens of its fighters have been killed in fighting against militants in a border area between Lebanon and Syria.

Hezbollah’s Media Relations Bureau released a statement on Friday, blasting local media outlets for spreading “false reports” on the number of the casualties of the resistance movement in the fight against militants in Syria’s Qalamoun border region.

“Some Lebanese media outlets insist on propagating false news about the number of Hezbollah martyrs in al-Qalamoun battle, claiming that 40 fighters were martyred,” the statement said, describing such reports as baseless and putting the number of casualties at three.

“These reports are totally false and baseless. The true number of Hezbollah martyrs in this battle is three…,” the statement added.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV reported Wednesday that a mortar attack on the positions of the terrorists in the Qalamoun border region led to the killing of three commanders from various terror groups.

This file photo shows Hezbollah fighters marching during a parade in Tefahta village, southern Lebanon. © AP
A post on al-Manar’s Twitter account also said the attack killed the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front commander in the al-Juba area, the commander of the as-Suqur al-Muhammadiyya Brigade and the leader of the Ras al-Maarra Operation.

It said Hezbollah forces attacked “a gathering of militant commanders and military vehicles.”

The attack came a day after Hezbollah killed at least 15 terrorists working for the al-Nusra Front on the outskirts of the Lebanese border village of Tufail near Qalamoun. One Hezbollah member, identified as Toufic Najjar, was also killed in the Tuesday operation.

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naeem Qassem said Tuesday that the resistance fighters were preparing for a battle to purge the strategic region of Takfiri militants.

“In any case, the Qalamoun battle is coming, and it has already stuck its neck out, proving once again that the Takfiris are unable to expand as they wish,” Qassem said.