Islam Times - ISIS Besieged in Lebanon-Syria Border, Victory Close: Hezbollah Leader

Islam Times - Hezbollah Secretary says ISIS Takfiri terrorists in Lebanon-Syria border outskirts are completely confused and besieged, adding that they prefer to leave the area if they obtain the approval of their central command.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made the remarks on Thursday when addressing supporters of the resistance movement through a televised speech broadcast live by Al Manar TV from the Lebanese capital, Beirut

Sayyed Nasrallah said that on the Lebanese side the main objective of the campaign are deploying the army on the border with Syria and securing it. He added that the other objective is to determine the fate of Lebanese soldiers taken into captivity by ISIS terrorists in 2014.

The Hezbollah leader pointed out that Syria aims at liberating the outskirts of western Qalamoun from ISIS terrorists and eliminating their role as a threat and a danger and therefore securing the Damascus-Homs road, especially since ISIS is facing defeat in Deir ez-Zor.

Lebanese army acting professionally

Sayyed Nasrallah added that the Lebanese army has carried out an accurate and professional mission with the least human and material losses.

On the first day of the campaign, Hezbollah fighters liberated a 20 square kilometers in the Lebanese territories in Al-Hosn Castle, according to the Resistance leader who emphasized that 120 out of 140 square kilometers of the Lebanese territories have been liberated by the Lebanese army and Hezbollah.

Sayyed Nasrallah said that on the Syrian side, Hezbollah and the Syrian army have liberated over 270 out of around 310 square kilometers of territory in western Qalamoun from ISIS terrorists who still hold around 40 square kilometers.

The Hezbollah leader added that currently, ISIS terrorists are besieged in the center of the battlefield adding that the last phase of the operations must be more accurate and professional as it covers the area where the families of ISIS terrorists are present.

“Dozens of ISIS terrorists have surrendered to the Resistance fighters and the Syrian army; however, Hezbollah did not announce that publicly due to its moral commitment.”

ISIS terrorists confused

Sayyed Nasrallah said that the remaining ISIS terrorists are completely confused and desire to reach a deal to leave the area, but that ISIS central command is not concerned with letting its terrorists leave the Lebanese-Syrian outskirts peacefully due to its infamous immoral and hardline mentality.

The Lebanese and Syrian armies as well as Hezbollah fighters enjoy a boosted morale and all the required elements of achieving an imminent victory, Sayyed Nasrallah said.

Addressing the Lebanese people, Hezbollah leader said, "I tell the Lebanese, all of them, you are on the threshold of a major victory and you should rejoice and be proud."

US Embassy threatening Lebanese media

Touching on the stances by the US government, Sayyed Nasrallah said "The US Embassy has threatened Lebanese media outlets with sanctions similar to financial sanctions [on Hezbollah] for covering the Hezbollah-Nusra battle."

“We saw that every media outlet except Future TV was covering the Arsal battle [last month] and then after this they started threatening them [over the coverage].” He claimed that between last Sunday and Thursday, many news outlets acted as if there was no other battle except the Lebanese Army’s battle against ISIS."I tell Americans: you are small-minded."

“The remarkable victory over ISIS in the outskirts results from the army-people-resistance golden formula, and the Syrian army has contributed to this formula during this battle.”

Second Liberation of Lebanon

Sayyed Nasrallah concluded his speech by stressing that on May 25 Lebanon celebrates the anniversary of the first liberation, and that the date of the imminent victory over ISIS will become the anniversary of the second liberation.

"Finally, liberating all the borders and expelling terrorists after this is as important as the victory in the 2006 war with Israel," the Hezbollah leader stated.

On August 19, Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an operation to purge ISIS from Qalamoun, located about 330 kilometers north of the Syrian capital Damascus.