08/22/2017, 12.26
LEBANON - SYRIA
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Daesh's expulsion from Jurud Mountains marks the beginning of the end of the Syria war

by Pierre Balanian

The Lebanese army - on the other side of the border, the Syrian army and Hezbollah - have destroyed the Islamic State bases by cutting off communication and supply routes in Syria. The Lebanese army as a liberator of the population. Hezbollah respect for prisoners, jihadists almost by chance.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - Daesh fighters are now trapped: the Lebanese army has begun to move on the mountainous Jurud, not far from the border with Syria. On the other side of the border there is at the same time an attack by the Syrian army supported by Hezbollah fighters. The day before yesterday, the Lebanese army's artillery hit the bases of Daesh Islamic terrorists causing dead and injured. The militias advanced by reclaiming the land from the mines dispersed prior to the retreat of the fighters in Kehouf, their last refuge in Lebanon.

Before the impossibility of escape, Daesh fighters called for a ceasefire that the military commander refused to grant before obtaining information about hostages kidnapped at Ersal and still in Daesh's hands.

A statement released yesterday by the Lebanese Chief of State office spoke of "a quick success in the execution of the two phases of the operation 'Fajr el Jurud (Alba dei Jurud)' and that the army is preparing to pass to the third and final phase ".

The liberation of the Syrian border with Jordan, with Iraq and now with Lebanon, closes the supply routes in men and means for Islamic terrorism. Their weakness marks the beginning of the end of the war in Syria.

Also yesterday Syrian troops together with Lebanese Hezbollah have managed to free Kornet Shaabet Ekko on the border with Lebanon, during the "If you return we will return" operation, a joint military action on both sides of the border that sees a collaborative effort between Damascus and Beirut, for the first time since the beginning of the Syrian war.

Local sources report raids carried out by over 20 Syrian air force jets - against the bases on the heights of Halima Kara in the Syrian area of ​​the Jurud of western Kalamun. The Syrian areas taken from Daesh, include the Shaabat heights at the Duab, Shaabat Beit, Shukr, along with the two important valleys for Daesh: those of Shams Tem el Mal and Kosseirah. Other news from the area spoke of the advancing  Syrian army along the West Al Shahut valley.

The Lebanese press gave great emphasis to the behavior of Hezbollah fighters towards Daesh prisoners of war who have been told: "Your honor will not be violated; Your lives are as good as ours; We are against injustice. "

A note issued yesterday by the US Embassy in Beirut states that Washington praises the Lebanese army operations considering it an "ally in the fight against terrorism."

The Lebanese army was warmly welcomed by the local population and Lebanese TV broadcast images of women from Al Kaa and Ras Baalbeck who joined in to cook good food for soldiers at the front, while an association of young people was created by placing young people along the way to the front to offer water bottles and fruit to soldiers heading to the combat zones.

It should be noted that Daesh fighters in this area are different from those of Raqqa, Deir Ezzor or Mosul: they are fighters of various factions in the myriad of militia in the name of Islam that after the escape from Al Qusayr [where in 2013, there was a battle between IS and the Syrian army, won by the latter- ndr], they chose to join Daesh in the hope that they would come to their aid. 

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