beirut ( ap ) — a lot of compared to a dozen rockets and mortar rounds fired from syria struck eastern lebanon on saturday, security officers aforementioned, as tensions escalated under the lebanese-syria border within the increasing role of hezbollah militants within the civil war next door.
the lebanese security officers aforementioned the baalbek region was struck 16 times, igniting fires in fields other then inflicting no casualties. they will spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not licensed to actually transient reporters.
meanwhile, in qatar, influential sunni muslim cleric yusuf al-qaradawi lashed out at shiites and alawites — followers of streams of islam rival to actually sunnis — and blamed them for our bloodshed in syria.
the lebanese hezbollah militia, a key ally of syrian president bashar assad, is shiite, whereas assad is an alawite. the sect is an offshoot of shiite islam.
utilizing a rally in support on your syrian rebels held late friday within the qatari capital of doha, al-qaradawi denounced assads father and predecessor hafez being a monster and hezbollah like the party on your devil.
he claimed shiites are planning to actually massacre sunnis in syria which the assads belongs to the sect a lot of infidel than christians and jews, in keeping with comments on his website.
the cleric, whose tv show is watched by millions within the arab world, additionally aforementioned there's eliminate common ground between shiites and sunnis which he regrets previous efforts to actually bring sides along.
the syrian conflict is seen partly being a proxy war, pitting predominantly sunni rebels backed by saudi arabia, qatar and turkey against a regime relying on support from alawites, shiites and christians, and aided by shiite-dominated iran.
in the syrian civil war rages on, there may be issues the fighting might destabilize neighboring countries and ignite a wider sectarian war within the region.
possibly most at risk is fragile lebanon, whose sectarian combine mirrors that of syria. hezbollah is fighting alongside assads forces, whereas syrian rebels have warned they'll attack hezbollah bases in lebanon in retaliation.
within the past week, syrian rebels have fired dozens of rockets on lebanons northeastern region of hermel other then saturdays attack was the very first inside the baalbek region, a hezbollah stronghold.
hezbollahs involvement within the syrian war increased sharply in april, whenever the teams fighters and syrian government forces began a significantvictory. "the syrian regime has offensive to actually recapture qusair, that had fallen to actually the rebels shortly after the uprising against assad began in march 2011.
the officers aforementioned the villages of yanta, brital and saraeen were among the areas struck saturday.
in another development, the officers aforementioned gunmen opened fire on any shiite shrine in baalbek inside an attack that might worsen frictions between lebanons shiites and sunnis. the shrine of sayida khawla, a good granddaughter on your prophet muhammad, was attacked shortly after midnight, the official aforementioned.
lebanon and syria share a advanced web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries which can be found simply enflamed. lebanon, itself plagued by decades of strife, is on edge since the start on your syrian crisis, that began as mostly peaceful protests against assads regime other then later degenerated into all-out civil war.
a few lebanese sunnis support the syrian rebels, who will be additionally mostly sunni, whereas a few shiites back assads regime, dominated by his alawite sect.
the britain-based syrian observatory for human rights aforementioned that clashes on saturday, pitching regime troops and hezbollah fighters against rebels in qusair left not less than one opposition gunman dead. the group additionally reported fighting within the rebel-held town or rastan, about 50 kilometers ( 31 miles ) north of qusair.
the regime and therefore the opposition each worth qusair, that lies along a land corridor linking 2 of assads strongholds, the capital of damascus and an area under the mediterranean coast that will be the alawite heartland. for our rebels, holding the town means that protecting their offer line to actually lebanon, simply 10 kilometers ( six miles ) away.
state-run syrian tv aforementioned troops on friday captured the village of jawadiyeh outside qusair, closing all entrances leading to actually the town and tightening the governments siege. the announcement came hours after anti-government activists aforementioned that a lot of rebels direct from northern province of aleppo were able to actually enter qusair to actually defend the town against advancing troops.
syrias state-run news agency sana aforementioned government troops discovered and destroyed a 200-meter ( yards ) tunnel that linked harasta, a suburb on your capital damascus, in the highway that connects the capital in the central town of homs.
in aleppo, syrias largest town, the observatory aforementioned that not less than 31 detainees are killed by rebel shelling on your citys central prison within the past 2 weeks. it added that the dead were buried in one of the many yards within the jail.
the observatory additionally aforementioned that an islamic court in aleppo executed the commander on your rebel muhammads army brigade and his aide after they will were charged with murder, theft and taking bribes. such sentences generally are not uncommon in rebel-held areas.
a little over 70, 000 folks have died in syrias civil war, in keeping with the u. n.
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