Hezbollah sends new fighters to bloody Syria battle

Elite Hezbollah fighters poured across the border from Lebanon into Syria on Tuesday, a watchdog and others said, bolstering Syrian regime forces battling to retake the key rebel stronghold of Qusayr. Washington condemned Hezbollah's direct intervention on the side of President Bashar al-Assad's regime and diplomats said the European Union was poised to place the Shiite militant group's military wing on its terror blacklist. Separately, Israel and Syrian forces traded fire on the Golan Heights. The Syrian army said it had destroyed an Israeli military vehicle that crossed the armistice line, a claim denied by Israel which nonetheless warned Damascus of "consequences" if there was further fire from the Syrian side. In central Homs province, Hezbollah fighters were reportedly leading the battle for Qusayr, three days after the Syrian regime began an assault to regain control of the town. "It's clear Hezbollah is leading the assault," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, adding that government aircraft were pressing a bombardment and "much of the town is now destroyed." A source close to Hezbollah told AFP it "has sent new elite troops to Qusayr". Hezbollah's television channel broadcast images of funerals for five fighters it said were killed carrying out their "jihadist duty". The Observatory said more than 100 people have been killed in Qusayr since the fighting began on Sunday, including 31 Hezbollah fighters, 70 rebels and nine soldiers. Abdel Rahman described the rebel response to the assault in Qusayr as "fierce," but expressed concern for the fate of some 25,000 trapped civilians. Pro-regime daily Al-Watan said loyalists had taken control of all Qusayr's official buildings and "raised the Syrian flag" above them. Washington condemned Hezbollah's role. "Hezbollah's occupation of villages in Syria and its support for the regime and pro-Assad militias exacerbates and inflames regional sectarian tensions and perpetuates the regime's campaign of terror against the Syrian people," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. A senior State Department spokesman said there was also evidence of an Iranian role alongside Assad's forces around Qusayr. The town is a key strategic prize as it sits on the main highway between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast, and also controls rebel supply routes from the mainly Sunni Muslim port of Tripoli in neighbouring Lebanon. "It is important for the Syrians, the Iranians and Hezbollah to control the road" linking Tripoli to Syria, Lebanese analyst Waddah Sharara told AFP. Tripoli is also home to a minority of Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Assad belongs. There have been repeated clashes in the city between the rival communities. On Tuesday, a security source confirmed the death of two Sunnis in the latest fighting in the city. Lebanon is officially neutral on the violence in Syria, but a range of Lebanese groups are openly intervening in the conflict. Some Sunni Lebanese have joined the rebels, with sources saying the body of one such fighter was brought home on Tuesday. The conflict is also raising tensions in the Golan Heights, with Syrian and Israeli troops exchanging fire on the strategic plateau early on Tuesday. The Syrian army claimed it had destroyed an Israeli military vehicle after it crossed the Golan ceasefire line. But the Israeli military said Syrian fire only damaged a military patrol vehicle, adding that troops returned fire. The Syrian foreign ministry accused Israel of providing "logistic support to the armed terrorist groups, including those present in the demilitarised zone" on the Golan. In recent months, Israel has provided emergency medical treatment to rebels wounded in the fighting in the Golan region, some of them in civilian hospitals inside Israel. Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz warned Assad of "consequences" if fire continues from Syrian territory against Israeli troops. "If he disturbs the Golan Heights, he will have to bear the consequences," Gantz said. "We cannot and shall not allow the Golan Heights to become a comfort zone for Assad." Meanwhile, key Syrian ally Iran said it was willing to attend a peace conference in Geneva proposed by Russia and the United States. And European diplomatic sources said Syria had submitted the names of five potential regime negotiators for the conference, expected to be held in the first half of June. UN deputy secretary general Jan Eliasson said it was vital that both the government and the rebels send  credible negotiating teams. "There have to be two, credible delegations to negotiate," Eliasson told reporters.