Syrian army, Hezbollah tighten siege on rebel-held city near Lebanon

The Syrian army, backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah, tightened the siege on the rebels in the rebel-held city of Zabadani, close to the Lebanese borders, the Syrian official TV said Saturday.

The military forces inflicted hefty losses on the rebels in Zabadani, where the Syrian forces and Hezbollah launched a major offensive earlier Saturday to drive out the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups from that key city near the Lebanese borders.

The wide-scale offensive on Zabadani, in the western part of the rugged Qalamoun region, came after the Syrian forces and allied fighters tightened the siege on the rebels there, the TV said.

The battle aimed at clearing the city and the entire region of Qalamoun of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and its allied militants, who used the city as a conduit to smuggle militants and weapons from Lebanon into the western countryside of Damascus.

Winning the battle by the Syrian forces and Hezbollah would shield the Lebanese borders of the threat of the Nusra Front, amid reports that most of the blasts that targeted Lebanon recently were planned by the rebels in Syria and the cars were booby-trapped in Qalamoun.

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV, which has close ties to Hezbollah, said the Syrian troops captured the surrounding hills of Zabadani recently to pave the way for the commencement of Saturday's assault.

It noted that the Syrian forces cut the rebels' supply lines between Zabadani and the nearby towns of Surghaya and Ain al-Hawar during the assault, causing a state of confusion among the rebels who were said to be negotiating their withdrawal from Zabdani to Surghaya.

The city has become exposed to the fire of the Syrian army, the report said, adding that the city is being shelled with heavy artillery and continued airstrikes.

Al-Mayadeen TV also aired video clips of the commencement of the battles in Zabadani, showing military forces firing rockets and bombing several areas in the city while plums of dark smoke bellowing the city.

Syrian aircrafts dropped leaflets over the city on Saturday, urging the people to stay away from the al-Qaida-linked militants.