Hezbollah Is Stepping Up Its Presence On Syrian-Lebanese Border – Report

A Hezbollah fighter stands at a watch tower at Juroud Arsal, the Syria-Lebanon border. Photo: REUTERS

Hezbollah has established new posts on the Syrian-Lebanese border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on January 6.

According to the London-based monitoring group, the new posts were established around the Syrian town of Serghaya which is located around 30 km to the north of the capital, Damascus.

“Armed groups of Lebanon’s Hezbollah have seized several farms in barren mountains of Sarghaya town in al-Kharrabat area, and blocked all agricultural roads to these farms but one where they established a checkpoint with soil and cement barriers,” the SOHR’s report reads.

Moreover, Hezbollah deployed a number of vehicles and heavy weapons in the newly-established posts. The vehicles and weapons were either camouflaged or placed underground.

Hezbollah maintains a strong presence along the Syrian-Lebanese border. The Lebanese group’s fighters are stationed between eastern Homs and Western Qalamun. The group helped to secure most of Syria’s border areas between 2013 and 2017.

Israel claims that Hezbollah is actively smuggling Iranian-made weapons, including precision-guided missiles, through the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The Hezbollah presence on the Syrian-Lebanese border, which is coordinated with Damascus, is meant to protect Lebanon from the terrorism as well as to maintain an open ground route with its backer, Iran, through Syria and Iraq.

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