Hezbollah chief says group will aid Assad in confronting rebels

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem says that his group, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, will be by Damascus’s side as Islamist-led rebels press a sweeping offensive.

In a televised address, Qassem denounces “terrorist groups” who want to “destroy Syria again… to bring down the regime” and “create chaos.”

“They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria’s side in thwarting the goals of this aggression as much as we can,” Qassem says.

He does not elaborate on what sort of support his group might provide, but Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in its war with Israel which ended with a fragile ceasefire on November 27, the day the Syrian rebels launched their offensive.

Qassem accuses the United States and Israel of supporting “takfiri” factions, a term the Shiite Muslim group uses to refer to jihadists or supporters of radical Sunni Islam.