Refugees from Lebanese camps arrive at edge of Syrian rebel zone
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Buses carrying Syrians who left Lebanon after a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Nusra militants on Thursday have started crossing into the rebel-held zone where they will settle, a Hezbollah military media unit reported. About 7,000 Syrians, including Nusra terrorists and refugees, left the Arsal district on the border between Lebanon and Syria as part of a cease-fire deal that also involves the handover of captured Hezbollah fighters.
A convoy of more than 100 buses arrived on Thursday at Al-Saan in the Hama province, where they began crossing frontlines from government territory, the Hezbollah media unit said. The buses left Arsal on Wednesday evening.
The first of five Hezbollah captives due to be released in the deal crossed into government territory at the same place, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television reported.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the convoy arrived in the Hama countryside and preparations had begun to transfer them to rebel territory.
Hezbollah is an important ally of the Syrian government in the war against rebel groups that include the Nusra Front.
The cease-fire took effect last week, just days after Shi’ite Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an offensive to drive Nusra Front and other Sunni jihadists from their last foothold in the border area between Lebanon and Syria.
Hezbollah fighters on Thursday moved into the areas that Nusra abandoned under the cease-fire, the media unit said.
The transfer of gunmen along with large numbers of refugees has echoed deals struck within Syria in which Damascus has shuttled rebels and civilians to Idlib and other opposition areas.
Such evacuations have helped President Bashar Assad recapture several rebel bastions over the past year and are criticized by the opposition as amounting to the forced transfer of populations seen as sympathetic to the opposition.