Hezbollah kills 46 militants

Lebanon’s Shiite Islamist movement Hezbollah on Sunday claimed it had killed 46 Sunni radicals during its offensive to liberate the north-eastern region of Arsal, next to the Syrian border.

Hezbollah launched an offensive on Friday in Arsal – a region located 120 km to the northeast of Beirut – with the support of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Efe news agency reported.

The Shiite group has captured Wadi Uwaini, which was a key bastion of Al Qaeda’s former affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (“Front for the Conquest of the Levant”), and the top of Jabal Shaabat al-Qalaa mountain, in eastern Arsal.

On the other hand, Hezbollah said pro-Syrian government forces killed 23 extremists in the Qalamoun Mountains, on the Syrian side of the border.