Report: Lebanese Militants Help Syrian Forces Capture Border Town
The Syrian government seized control Wednesday of the town of Qusair, state television and opposition activists said, a significant strategic advance for President Bashar al-Assad’s forces as they are bolstered by Lebanese militants.
For over a fortnight the city has been the scene of a grinding battle as rebels, penned in on all sides, attempted to repel the advance of pro-government forces. But on Wednesday, Syrian state television said “heroic” armed forces had restored stability to the town.
Control of Qusair, just six miles over the Lebanese border, is an essential cog in the government effort to regain a grip on central Syria. Fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, adept in street warfare, have been backing Assad’s troops in battle.
As state television broadcast footage of a soldier hoisting a Syrian flag emblazoned with Assad’s face over a clock tower in the town centre, the opposition conceded defeat.
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