23 Hezbollah Members Killed in Syria   05/20 07:05

   Syrian government forces pushed deeper into a strategic opposition-held town 
near the Lebanese border Monday, battling rebels in fierce street fighting, 
Syrian state-media said. An activist group said at least 23 elite fighters from 
Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group fighting alongside regime troops have been 
killed in the clashes.

   BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian government forces pushed deeper into a strategic 
opposition-held town near the Lebanese border Monday, battling rebels in fierce 
street fighting, Syrian state-media said. An activist group said at least 23 
elite fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group fighting alongside 
regime troops have been killed in the clashes.

   The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the 
country's civil war, said that in addition to the deaths more than 100 
Hezbollah members have been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. 
If confirmed, the casualties would be a significant blow to the Shiite group, 
which has come under harsh criticism at home in Lebanon for its involvement in 
Syria's civil war.

   A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah is heavily 
invested in the survival of the Damascus regime and is known to have sent 
fighters to aid government forces. The Lebanese group's growing role in the 
civil war next door also points to the deeply sectarian nature of the conflict 
in Syria, in which a rebellion driven by the country's Sunni majority seeks to 
overthrow a regime dominated by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of 
Shiite Islam.

   The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists in the ground 
in Syria, cited "sources close to the militant group" for the death toll but 
declined to reveal their identity. It said at least 50 Syrian rebels were also 
killed in the battle for Qusair on Sunday, including two opposition commanders.

   For weeks, fighting has raged around Qusair, a town in the central province 
of Homs that has been under rebel control since early last year.

   The intensity of the fighting reflects the importance that both sides attach 
to the area. In the regime's calculations, Qusair lies along a strategic land 
corridor linking Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, the Alawite heartland. 
For the rebels, overwhelmingly Sunni Qusair has served as a conduit for 
shipments of weapons and supplies smuggled from Lebanon to opposition fighters 
inside Syria.

   On Sunday, the regime launched an offensive to regain control of Qusair, 
with Hezbollah's elite fighters pushing into the town from the east and south, 
an opposition figure said.

   He said Hezbollah troops took control of the main square and the municipal 
building in the center of the city in a few hours. By the end of the day 
Sunday, they pushed out rebel units, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat 
al-Nusra, from most of Qusair, he added Monday on condition of anonymity, for 
fear of retaliation by both sides.

   He said fighting was focused in the northern part of the town on Monday.

   The account matched that of Syria's state news media, which said President 
Bashar Assad's troops took control of most of Qusair on Monday. State-run TV 
said forces restored stability to the entire eastern front of the town, killing 
scores of terrorists there.

   Residents on the Lebanese side of the border just across from Qusair 
reported seeing more than 30 plumes of smoke billowing from inside Syria and 
hearing the heavy thud of artillery and airstrikes late into the night Sunday 
and on Monday morning.

   "Nobody could sleep last night from the sounds of battle," said Ali Jaafar, 
deputy mayor of the Lebanese border town of Hermel, adding that residents did 
not send children to school Monday for fear of fighting spilling over into 
Lebanon.

   Before Sunday's offensive, Qusair had been ringed by regime troops and 
fighters from the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, an Assad ally, for several weeks.

   Lebanese security officials confirmed at least four funerals were being held 
Monday morning for Hezbollah fighters or their supporters killed in Syria. They 
spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

   Army units "restored security and stability" to most of the city on Monday 
and killed "many terrorists," the majority of them foreign fighters who have 
been fighting alongside opposition forces, the state news agency said. The 
military also destroyed rebel hideouts and seized "large amounts of weapons and 
ammunition," it said, adding that government troops are fighting pockets of 
resistance in several districts of Qusair Monday.

   The Syrian regime claims there is no civil war in the country but that the 
army is fighting foreign-backed terrorists trying to topple Assad's government.

   More than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011.

   At least 1.5 million Syrian who fled civil war have sought shelter in 
neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, while millions more 
have been displaced inside Syria and are in urgent need of basic aid, according 
to the United Nations.

   An international aid organization, Oxfam, appealed for more funds to help 
Syrian refugees, saying warmer weather will increase health risks due to lack 
of shelter, water and basic sanitation in Lebanon and Jordan.

   The Britain-based group said in a statement Monday that diarrhea and skin 
infections have already been noted among refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The 
two countries host the bulk of 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

   Oxfam said it needs $53 million dollars to improve access to water and 
proper sanitation for Syrian refugees. So far the aid group has received $10.6 
million dollars.


(KA)