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The army on Monday stormed the security zone of Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir’s mosque in the Sidon suburb of Abra and arrested a number of gunmen as the Islamist cleric fled to an unknown destination, following clashes that left 16 troops martyred.
Several local TV networks aired live footage showing army troops advancing into Asir’s security zone and arresting a number of his gunmen.
The commander of Syria’s rebels confirms they have received new weapons, giving his forces more power in battles against government troops and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon.
Gen. Salim Idris refused to say in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV Friday where the weapons came from.
Some 80 thousand military forces trained by Hizbullah are preparing to launch a ground offensive to recapture Syria’s commercial city of Aleppo, according to a report in the UK-based Sunday Times.
A Hizbullah commander said the fighters belonging to Syria’s National Defense Force (NDF) have been taught “to fight street by street.”
The fighters were also trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the newspaper reported.
Iran will send 4,000 Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria to fight alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces, The Independent reported on Sunday.
The decision to send soldiers to Syria was taken last week prior to Friday’s Iranian presidential election which saw cleric Hassan Rohani defeat a number of more conservative candidates.
The United States and its allies have concluded that the government of Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons in Syria’s protracted civil war, leading President Barack Obama to broaden aid — including military support — to opposition groups.
The intelligence community concluded with “high confidence” that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons — including the nerve agent sarin — “on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year.”