Hezbollah advances along Syria-Israel border

Syrian troops and members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group seize several towns and villages south of Damascus, state media and activists say, advancing in a region leading to the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The government counteroffensive aims at recapturing areas seized by Syrian opposition fighters and members of the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, whose recent advances had brought them closer to Syria’s capital, embattled President Bashar Assad’s seat of power.

The government late last year lost large parts of the Quneitra region, on the edge of the Golan. State television said troops gained control of the town of Deir al-Adas and the village of Deir Maker, as well as the nearby areas of Tal al-Arous and Tal al-Sarjeh.

“The operations are being led by Hezbollah’s special forces,” says Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “Their aim appears to be to eventually reach areas bordering the occupied Golan and set up a border zone under Hezbollah’s control.”

The Observatory, which has a network of activists around the country, says Iranian volunteers also are fighting, adding that 20 opposition fighters were killed there Tuesday alone.

— AP