Exchange of bodies ahead of Syria-Lebanon border plan
Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda began exchanging the bodies of dead fighters along the Lebanese-Syrian border yesterday in the first stage of a settlement to restore order to a contested frontier zone. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was handing over the bodies of nine Al-Qaeda fighters in exchange for the bodies of five of its own, following two weeks of battles along the rugged border, its Al-Manar TV station reported. The exchange, like the battles that preceded it, underscores Hezbollah’s clout in regional affairs as it clears the border of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group militants on behalf of the Lebanese and Syrian state militaries.
US President Donald Trump credited the Lebanese government with standing up to Hezbollah, last week, but the truth is Hezbollah played the role of the Lebanese and Syrian militaries in the operations in the Arsal badlands in the border. Hezbollah is also a member of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government. The US classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The Syrian military provided air support to Hezbollah’s ground operations around Arsal, while the Lebanese military assumed a defensive position behind Hezbollah lines.
Twenty-six Hezbollah fighters and between 47 and 90 Al-Qaeda fighters were killed in the fighting, Hezbollah media officials told reporters on a tour of the Arsal badlands on Saturday. The fighting ended with a cease-fire Thursday for negotiations to allow refugees, fighters, and family members to leave to Syria’s northwest Idlib province, leaving Hezbollah and the Lebanese and Syrian states in control of this corner of the border. Up to 9,000 Syrians could be seeking resettlement, Al-Manar reported.
Lebanon has been buffeted by the fallout and occasional spillover of the civil war next door. It has taken in 1 million refugees, according to the UN, and suffered a number of bomb blasts claimed by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliated groups. The border town of Arsal was overrun by Al-Qaida and Islamic State group militants in 2014 before Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army turned them back out. They have remained ensconced in the rugged hills east of Arsal ever since.
Around 80,000 refugees live near Arsal. Many of them were displaced by fighting between rebels and Hezbollah in 2012 and 2013. Syria is fractured after six years of civil war, and an Al-Qaeda affiliate controls Idlib.
The war broke out after President Bashar Assad government cracked down on demonstrations for reforms in 2011. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group estimates some 475,000 people have been killed, and Assad remains in power in Damascus. Hezbollah is expected to launch another offensive dislodge the Islamic State group from a second section of the border. —AP