Lebanon’s Hezbollah faces tough terrain in border battle

JUROUD ARSAL, Lebanon: The barren, rocky hilltops that form Hezbollah’s new front line with jihadists at the Syrian-Lebanese border were tough to capture and supply. Hezbollah commander Hajj Abu Ali says the experience could prove useful in future battles.

Military jeeps and four-wheeldrive trucks make a slow, bruising progress up newly bulldozed dirt tracks to the mountains near the Lebanese town of Arsal to ferry food and supplies to forces there as fighting rages in the valley below.

“Each battle has its own difficulties,” Abu Ali said, standing on a bombed-out hilltop bunker captured from Nusra Front militants in the area known as Juroud Arsal.

This is the latest front for Hezbollah in its battle with militants to secure Lebanon’s Syrian border, part of the wider role the Iran-backed group has played in support of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the six-year-long war in Syria.

Hezbollah has made rapid advances against Nusra Front since launching the offensive jointly with the Syrian army on Friday, aiming to clear jihadists out of their last border foothold.

Mortar fire pounded targets in the valley and jets struck on the Syrian side of the border during a media trip to the area on Tuesday. Plumes of grey smoke towered into the sky.

“What is tough in some battles is that areas are densely populated, with many civilians. Here you can shell more freely, it’s open and there aren’t many people. But the terrain is the difficult bit – it’s hard to cover ground, and we have to open new roads as we go along,” Abu Ali said.

Since the operation began, Nusra Front has almost been vanquished, Hezbollah says, and the next target is a pocket of territory held by Islamic State militants.

As Hezbollah battles jihadists in this latest offensive, the Lebanese army has adopted a defensive posture guarding the nearby town of Arsal. A big recipient of US and British military support, it has not taken part. Hezbollah commanders believe the offensive will soon be over, and say the battle is providing valuable experience. “It could help prepare us for future battles,” Abu Ali said.

But the battle has been hard fought, mainly because of terrain that was long an ideal base for Nusra Front – al-Qaeda’s alQaeda’s former Syria branch and now leader of Islamist alliance, Tahrir al-Sham – as well as for Islamic State militants and other insurgents.