BEIRUT - Hezbollah’s leader tackled the recent battles southwest of Aleppo, where the party in recent days reportedly suffered its worst losses since entering the conflict, and called the flash point front key to the defense of the Syrian regime.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Friday evening that a “new phase of the Syrian war” has started in northern Syria, claiming that foreign-backed insurgents were staging a major offensive in a bid to collapse the regime.
“We had to be in Aleppo, and we will stay in Aleppo,” he declared defiantly, saying that thwarting the Army of Conquest coalition in the flash point front would “defend what remains of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.”
“We have a high number of fighters in Aleppo.”
Last weekend, Islamist rebels led by the Al-Nusra Front seized the villages of Khalsah and Zitan southwest of Aleppo in the most recent stage of their drive against regime lines that began in the beginning of April 2016.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tracking developments in the war-torn country reported that Hezbollah suffered 25 casualties in the fighting.
“It's the highest toll for Hezbollah fighters in a single battle,” the NGO’s chief told AFP.
Nasrallah, however, blasted claims the party suffered heavy losses, announcing that 26 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since the beginning of June, and not just in the most recent clashes.
Rebel groups suffered far heavier losses, he further claimed, saying that insurgents lost 617 fighters since the beginning of June, while over 800 others were injured.
Nasrallah also discussed the issue of Lebanese banks’ compliance with a recent raft of US financial sanctions against Hezbollah, which has raised the ire of the party.
“We completely reject this law,” he reiterated, while saying that the sanctions will have no effect on Hezbollah.
“All the banks of the world cannot stand as an obstacle to Hezbollah,” Nasrallah boasted.
He explained that Hezbollah’s entire budget is bankrolled by Tehran, saying, “As long as there is money in Iran, we will have money.”
Despite his claim that the sanctions would not hurt Hezbollah, Nasrallah added that his party was angry over Lebanese banks closing down accounts of charities and private individuals for their purported support for the party.
“This is irresponsible, aggressive behavior,” Nasrallah said in a broadside aimed at the country’s banking sector.
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said earlier in June that 100 Hezbollah-linked bank accounts had been shut down in the country, prompting an angry riposte from Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc later that day, which said Lebanon’s “monetary policy has lost its sovereignty.”
A US law passed on December 18, 2015 mandates the strictest sanctions yet against Hezbollah as well any individual or organization affiliated with it and any financial institution anywhere in the world that “knowingly facilitates a transaction” for it.
In response, the Lebanese Central Bank issued Circular No. 137 on May 3, calling on Lebanese banks to abide by the US legislation, action has already been taken by banks against numerous Hezbollah officials.
The sanction law and the Lebanese banking sectors adherence to it has enraged Hezbollah, with on of the party’s minister in the government, Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, saying in a mid-May cabinet session the sanctions “transgressed all red lines” and represented part of a “war of elimination.”
However, Hezbollah on May 18 praised a directive by Salameh calling on banks to consult with the Central Bank before shutting accounts down.
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