Report: Hezbollah paying ex-rebels to fight for Syrian regime

1 November 2018, 7:34 pm

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The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been paying rebel fighters formerly backed by the United States in southern Syria to switch sides in that country’s civil war, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Iranian proxy, which is fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, has so far recruited some 2,000 fighters, according to the report, which cites unnamed activists and a former rebel commander.

Israel has said it won’t tolerate an Iranian presence in Syria and during the summer Syrian ally Russia announced Iranian forces would pull back to at least 85 kilometers from the border with Israel.

“Russia pushing Iran out is an illusion. It can’t rely on the Syrian army,” the Journal quoted the former rebel commander saying.