Nasrallah: Hizballah to bolster presence in Syria
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese Shia movement Hizballah, says the group will bolster troops in Syria following the death of one of its top commanders.
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Hassan Nasrallah has pledged to send more troops to Syria [Getty]
Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah has said his Lebanese Shia movement will boost its support for Syria's regime after one of its top commanders was killed there last week.
"We will increase and bolster our presence in Syria," Nasrallah said in a speech during a ceremony to mark a week since Mustafa Badreddine was killed in an artillery attack near Damascus.
"More commanders than before will go to Syria. We will be present in different ways and we will continue the fight," he said.
According to Hizballah expert Waddah Charara, the Shia militant group has sent between 5,000 and 6,000 combatants to Syria since 2013.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 Hizballah fighters have been killed in fighting there, other experts say.
"Our revenge will be great and final defeat on these terrorist, takfiri (Sunni extremist) and criminal groups," said Nasrallah.
Hizballah has accused Islamist extremists of killing Badreddine, but did not name any single group.
Badreddine was on a US terror sanctions blacklist, was a key suspect in the 2005 assassination in Beirut of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri and was one of the "most wanted" by Israel.
But Nasrallah said no evidence pointed to Israel – the Shia movement's sworn enemy – being involved in the killing.
"We reviewed Israeli flight patterns and movements and of course what we found on the site of the explosion," he said.
"We have no sign or proof leading us to the Israelis."
The Syrian opposition, however, has cast doubt on Hizballah's claims.
"The assassination was carried out with a level of accuracy that no opposition faction is capable of. They have also not specified the time and date of the assassination, it is highly likely their accusations are untrue," the spokesman for the Damascus Military Council, Abu al-Hakam, told The New Arab.
Nasrallah paid tribute to Badreddine, who he said "was one of the first to join the resistance in its beginnings" after it was founded in 1982 with help from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
After climbing up the ranks, Badreddine took on "main military responsibilities" at Hizballah between 1995 and 1999, he said.
"When Hizballah decided to enter Syria, the commander was given the responsibility to lead the group's military and security units in Syria," he said.
Syria's war has killed at least 270,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.
"We will increase and bolster our presence in Syria," Nasrallah said in a speech during a ceremony to mark a week since Mustafa Badreddine was killed in an artillery attack near Damascus.
"More commanders than before will go to Syria. We will be present in different ways and we will continue the fight," he said.
According to Hizballah expert Waddah Charara, the Shia militant group has sent between 5,000 and 6,000 combatants to Syria since 2013.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 Hizballah fighters have been killed in fighting there, other experts say.
"Our revenge will be great and final defeat on these terrorist, takfiri (Sunni extremist) and criminal groups," said Nasrallah.
Hizballah has accused Islamist extremists of killing Badreddine, but did not name any single group.
Badreddine was on a US terror sanctions blacklist, was a key suspect in the 2005 assassination in Beirut of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri and was one of the "most wanted" by Israel.
But Nasrallah said no evidence pointed to Israel – the Shia movement's sworn enemy – being involved in the killing.
"We reviewed Israeli flight patterns and movements and of course what we found on the site of the explosion," he said.
"We have no sign or proof leading us to the Israelis."
The Syrian opposition, however, has cast doubt on Hizballah's claims.
"The assassination was carried out with a level of accuracy that no opposition faction is capable of. They have also not specified the time and date of the assassination, it is highly likely their accusations are untrue," the spokesman for the Damascus Military Council, Abu al-Hakam, told The New Arab.
Nasrallah paid tribute to Badreddine, who he said "was one of the first to join the resistance in its beginnings" after it was founded in 1982 with help from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
After climbing up the ranks, Badreddine took on "main military responsibilities" at Hizballah between 1995 and 1999, he said.
"When Hizballah decided to enter Syria, the commander was given the responsibility to lead the group's military and security units in Syria," he said.
Syria's war has killed at least 270,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.
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