Hezbollah’s role in Syrian war endangers many villages, residents

HERMEL, Lebanon — In Shiite towns and villages near the border with Syria, residents who support Hezbollah are bearing the brunt of the militant Lebanese group’s growing involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Shells fired by Syria’s overwhelmingly Sunni rebels regularly fall on the town, killing civilians and keeping schools and many shops shuttered.

Many believe the shelling is a message from Sunni extremists that there would be a price to pay for supporting the Shiite Muslim group.

This week, 20-year-old Loulou Awad was the latest victim of growing sectarian hatred on both sides of the border.

It was around sunset Monday when the first rocket from Syria slammed into her hometown of Hermel, a predominantly Shiite area in Lebanon’s northeastern corner. The hotel management student ran to the roof of her uncle’s house across the street from her parents’ apartment to see the damage.

Fifteen minutes later, the second rocket fell on the roof of her parents’ building, spraying shrapnel everywhere. Her father, Abdullah, and her mother, Salma, were watching the news when the second rocket hit their house. The electricity was cut and dust filled the rooms. Awad helped his wife outside and rushed to the roof across the street where he found his daughter with shrapnel wounds in the back of her head.

“I knew immediately that she was dead,” said Awad.

Rocket attacks on Hermel and nearby villages have killed three and wounded 21over the past two months, according to residents and local officials.

The attacks appear to be retaliation for Hezbollah fighters’ support of President Bashar Assad’s forces in battles in the central Syrian province of Homs.