Baladi - Media
Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council who was designated as a blacklisted terrorist by Saudi Arabia in 2017, said that his militias “will not leave southern Syria or Syria” while speaking at an honorary ceremony on Sunday.
According to local media reports and Hezbollah’s media outlet, the al-Manar channel, Safieddine confirmed that Hezbollah fighters were heavily involved in the battles of Southern Syria, despite the Assad regime saying that there were no foreign militias in the area.
Safieddine was placed on Saudi Arabia and the US’s terrorist lists a few weeks ago for his involvement in several terrorist operations, and for his support of the Assad regime.
This is considered the first time that an official Hezbollah leader admits to being involved in the war in Syria, more specifically in Daraa, following false rumors that stated that Hezbollah had withdrawn from the southern area.
This development is also significant as the battle in the south extends to the area of separation of Israeli and Syrian forces under the Agreement of Disengagement concluded in 1974 between Syria and Israel.
Safieddine’s statements coincide with several Iranian militias, like the Zulfiqar Brigade and the Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas militia, which operates under the Assad regime’s Republican Guard, also confirming their involvement in the battles in Daraa.
Source: Al Arabiya
