Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has poured in hundreds of
troops in heavy fighting in southern Syria.

Opposition sources said Hizbullah has sent up to 1,000 fighters to join
the Syrian Army in its offensive in southern Syria. They said Hizbullah
played a major role in blocking access to Sunni rebel strongholds around
Dera, located near the Jordanian border.

“Hizbullah has moved from training and mentoring to direct combat,
particularly along the borders of Jordan and Lebanon,” a source said.

On May 19, Hizbullah forces joined the Syrian Army in an attack on the
rebel-held town of Qusair, located near the border with Lebanon. The
opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Hizbullah, backed by fighter-jets, main battle tanks and artillery, were helping lead the
operation. At least 20 Hizbullah fighters were said to have been killed in
the battle.

“In the next few hours we will bring you joyous news,” Syrian state
television said.

The sources said Hizbullah was supplying combat troops as well as
logistic crews to facilitate the Syrian Army offensive. They said Hizbullah
units demonstrated strong skills in urban warfare as well as fighting
irregular forces such as the rebels.

Hizbullah was also said to have conducted house-to-house searches in
Khirbit Ghazleh in May 2013. The sources said Khirbit, deemed a strategic
town, was captured by Hizbullah fighters after more than two months of army
shelling.

“The army could not get into Khirbit, but because of the new Hizbullah
units, the rebel defenses were broken and the town was captured within
days,” the source said.

The capture of Khirbit by the regime of President Bashar Assad allowed
the opening of the highway between Damascus and Dera. The sources said army
units have now reached close to the Jordanian border and were occasionally
crossing into the Hashemite kingdom.

Hizbullah was also believed to have facilitated mortar and rocket
attacks from Syria into Israel. On May 16, a Palestinian group believed to
be a front for Hizbullah claimed responsibility for firing rockets at an
Israel Army position on the Golan Heights. Additional fire landed near
Israeli positions on May 19.

“We are avenging all our martyrs that we lost in our war with the
Zionist enemy,” the group, called Abdul Qader Al Husseini Brigades said.

  Abdul Qader Al Husseini Brigades, Bashar Assad, Dera, Hizbullah: From ‘mentoring’ to ‘direct combat’ near Jordan, Lebanon borders, Qusair, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights