Lebanon to Resolve Syrian Rebel Group Withdrawal ahead of ISIS Border Battle

A Lebanese army soldier takes up a position overlooking an area held by ISIS at the edge of the town of Arsal, in northeast Lebanon, June 19, 2016. (AP)
A Lebanese army soldier takes up a position overlooking an area held by ISIS at the edge of the town of Arsal, in northeast Lebanon, June 19, 2016. (AP)
TT
20

Lebanon to Resolve Syrian Rebel Group Withdrawal ahead of ISIS Border Battle

A Lebanese army soldier takes up a position overlooking an area held by ISIS at the edge of the town of Arsal, in northeast Lebanon, June 19, 2016. (AP)
A Lebanese army soldier takes up a position overlooking an area held by ISIS at the edge of the town of Arsal, in northeast Lebanon, June 19, 2016. (AP)

The Syrian rebel group of Saraya Ahl al-Sham will withdraw from the northeaster border region of Arsal in Lebanon ahead of an imminent offensive the Lebanese army is set to launch against ISIS terrorists deployed along the border area.

Head of Lebanon’s General Security Abbas Ibrahim told Reuters that the fighters will start to withdraw from the area on Saturday. They will leave the area with some 3,000 civilians and head to Syria.

About 300 fighters, along with their families and some other civilians who wish to return to Syria, will be escorted to the border by security forces, Ibrahim told Reuters by phone.

Those civilians who had asked to leave along with Saraya Ahl al-Sham would go to the regime-held Assal al-Ward district near the border. The fighters would go to a place that had been agreed upon, he said.

Ibrahim did not name the place. But a military media unit run by “Hezbollah” - which is closely allied to Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad - reported that the fighters and their families would go to the rebel-held town of al-Ruhaiba in the Eastern Qalamoun district.

The group's departure follows that of the Nusra Front, which quit its enclave on the border early this month for rebel-held Idlib, in northwest Syria, after its defeat in a six-day “Hezbollah” offensive.

During that evacuation and others of rebel groups inside Syria to insurgent-held areas, the Syrian regime has allowed them to travel under protection in buses and carry small arms. This time, civilians will be allowed to travel in their own cars, Ibrahim said.

The pull-out by Saraya Ahl al-Sham will leave an ISIS pocket in the same area as the only remaining militant stronghold on the border.

In the past few days, the Lebanese army's artillery shells and multiple rocket launchers have been pounding the mountainous areas on the Lebanon-Syria border where ISIS held positions, in preparation for the offensive. Drones could be heard around the clock and residents of the eastern Bekaa Valley reported seeing army reinforcements arriving daily in the northeastern district of Hermel to join the battle.

On Tuesday, the army's top brass conferred with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and interior and defense ministers at the presidential palace in Baabda to plan operations in the Bekaa Valley.

The committee took the "necessary counsel and decisions to succeed in the military operations to eliminate the terrorists," Major General Saadallah Hamad said after the meeting.

Experts say more than 3,000 troops, including elite special forces, are in the northeastern corner of Lebanon to take part in the offensive. The army will likely use weapons it received from the United States, including Cessna aircraft that discharge Hellfire missiles.

The movement of rebel and militant factions across Syria's border with Lebanon represented the biggest military spillover of its civil war into its tiny neighbor.

The factions took positions in the hills that straddle the border around the northeastern Lebanese town of Arsal, home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. More than 1 million Syrians have sought shelter in Lebanon during the war.



Syrian Forces Enter Sweida after Deadly Clashes

Syrian government forces deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of the city of Sweida, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian government forces deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of the city of Sweida, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
TT
20

Syrian Forces Enter Sweida after Deadly Clashes

Syrian government forces deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of the city of Sweida, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian government forces deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of the city of Sweida, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian government forces entered the city of Sweida on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, aiming to end clashes that have killed nearly 100 people.

The southern city had been under the control of armed factions from the Druze minority, whose religious leaders said they had approved the deployment of Damascus' troops and called on fighters to hand over their weapons.

A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city in a bid to halt the violence, which erupted at the weekend and has since spread across Sweida governorate.

Government forces said they intervened to separate Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters but ended up taking control of several Druze areas around Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.

Military columns were seen advancing toward Sweida on Tuesday morning, with heavy artillery deployed nearby.

The defense ministry said later that they had entered the city, and urged people to "stay home and report any movements of outlaw groups".

An AFP correspondent heard explosions and gunshots as soldiers moved into Sweida.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported 99 people killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday -- 60 Druze, including four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.

The defense ministry reported 18 deaths among the ranks of the armed forces.