Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Thursday that his Lebanese militant group, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, would be by Damascus’s side as Islamist-led rebels press a sweeping offensive.
In a televised address, Qassem denounced “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 said.
He did 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 Syria rebels launched their offensive.
Qassem accused 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.
Rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, and allied factions launched the surprise attack and have since seized the major cities of Aleppo and Hama.
The rebels’ advance in Aleppo province was in an area where pro-Iran groups including Hezbollah had previously had a significant presence, before drawing it down in recent months in the face of the war with Israel.
Hezbollah has openly backed Assad’s forces since 2013.
Hezbollah fighters helped Assad regain territory lost earlier in the civil war which broke out in 2011 after the repression of anti-government protests.
