Iraqi fighters head to Syria to battle rebels but Lebanon's Hezbollah stays out – Reuters

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS.  Hundreds of Iran-backed Iraqi fighters crossed into Syria on Monday to help the government fight rebels who seized Aleppo last week, but Lebanon's Hezbollah has no plans for now to join them, Reuters reported citing sources.

Iran's constellation of allied regional militia groups, aided by Russian air power, has been integral to the success of pro-government forces in subduing rebels in Syria who rose up against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, according to Reuters.

The rebel storm of Aleppo is the biggest success of anti-Assad fighters for years. Government forces had held complete control of Aleppo since capturing what was then Syria's largest city in a siege in 2016, one of the major turning points of a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The head of Syria's main opposition group abroad, Hadi al-Bahra, told Reuters the rebels were able to seize the city so quickly because Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups were distracted by their conflict with Israel.

Preparations had been made since last year for an assault on Aleppo, but it was held up by the war in Gaza, he said.

Syria's civil war had been frozen since 2020, with Assad in control of most territory and all major cities. Rebels still held an enclave in the northwest, Turkey-backed forces held a strip along the northern border and U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led forces controlled a pocket in the northeast.

Iraqi and Syrian sources confirmed the deployment of more Iran-backed Iraqi fighters to Syria. Iran's Foreign Minister said Tehran "will provide any support needed" and that "resistance groups" would come to Assad's aid.

At least 300 fighters, primarily from Iraq's Badr and Nujabaa groups, crossed late on Sunday using a dirt road to avoid the official border crossing, two Iraqi security sources said, adding that they were there to defend a Shi'ite shrine.

A senior Syrian military source said the fighters had crossed in small groups to avoid airstrikes. "These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north," the source said.