ARSAL, Lebanon (AP) — Sunnis and Shiites from Lebanon are
streaming into Syria to take up arms on opposite sides of a fierce
battle over a rebel stronghold — a fight that has effectively erased the
border between the two countries and underlined how Lebanon is being
sucked into the civil war next door.
The northeastern Lebanese town of Arsal, dominated
by Sunnis, has become a key logistical base for the Syrian rebels who
have been fighting for months to keep their hold on the strategic Syrian
town of Yabroud, only 20 miles away (30 kilometers) across the border.
On
a recent day, armed fighters in pickup trucks and on motorbikes were
seen scrambling down dusty roads out of Arsal into the mountains to
cross into Syria and head to Yabroud. Syrian rebels move freely back and
forth across the border, and rebels wounded in the battle are brought
to Arsal for treatment in clandestine hospitals.
At the same time,
Lebanese Shiite fighters from the Hezbollah guerrilla group are
crossing into Syria to fight alongside the forces of Syrian President
Bashar Assad that have been besieging Yabroud since November.
For
the past three years, Lebanon has been struggling with the spillover
from Syria's civil war. Sectarian tensions in Lebanon have escalated, as
its Sunni community largely supports the mainly Sunni Syrian rebel
movement, while its Shiites back Assad. Hezbollah, the most powerful
armed force in Lebanon, has thrown its weight behind Assad, sending
fighters who have tipped some battles in the government's favor.
The
violence has blown back into Lebanon itself, with suspected Sunni
extremists carrying out a string of retaliatory bombings against
Hezbollah-controlled Shiite areas.
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Map locates Arsal, Lebanon; 1c x 3 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 mm;
Around Arsal, all sides are brought into dangerously close proximity, exacerbated by the battle raging just over the border.
The
town's Sunni population strongly sympathizes with Syria's rebels.
Lebanese security officials say a few hundred Lebanese Sunnis are
believed to be offering logistical support or fighting alongside the
rebels, particularly in Yabroud. The officials spoke on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
But
Arsal is surrounded by mainly Shiite towns in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa
valley, raising the potential for friction between the various fighters
on Lebanese soil. The town of Baalbek, 20 miles (30 kilometers) to the
south, is a source of many of the Hezbollah fighters heading to join the
Yabroud battle.
Syrian rebels being treated at Arsal hospitals said Hezbollah guerrillas make up the bulk of the forces besieging Yabroud.
"They
have many weapons, and they are fighting hard because Yabroud is
important for them," one rebel, who spoke on condition he be identified
only by his first name, Basel, told The Associated Press. "But it's our
country and we are strong men. We will defend our people, our land and
our honor until we die."
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In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, Ibrahim, right, and Adul-Karim, left, both18, Syr …
Basel was seriously injured
in the groin and left thigh when he and four other rebels were preparing
to ambush pro-government forces at Yabroud but were instead ambushed
themselves by troops who descended on them from behind.
The
27-year-old needs surgery that Arsal's makeshift hospital, attached to a
mosque, cannot provide. But his brother, standing at his bedside, said
he will not send him anywhere in Lebanon outside Arsal because he fears
he could be captured on route by Hezbollah fighters manning several
checkpoints in a neighboring Shiite village.
"I
am going to pay more money to bring doctors here to help him, but he's
only leaving this bed to go back to Syria," the brother said. He
declined to give his name for fear of reprisals.
Another
wounded Syrian rebel, Mohammed Awad, was barely out of the operating
room when he began pleading with doctors to let him go back to the front
at Yabroud.
The 20-year-old
was wounded when a rocket hit a vehicle carrying him and other fighters.
His face bandaged after doctors removed shrapnel from his jaw and left
hand, Awad said he was determined to rejoin the battle because he is
originally from Syrian town of Qusair, another border town that was a
rebel stronghold until Hezbollah fighters helped overrun it last year in
their first major incursion in Syria's war.
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In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, a Lebanese nurse, right, helps Adul-Karim, 18, a …
"This is enough reason to want to fight Hezbollah and Assad to death," Awad said.
But
there is the issue of personal revenge too, he said: He lost four
uncles, two cousins and four female relatives amid the fighting in
Qusair.
The battle for Yabroud
is particularly fierce because the town is key for rebels. It is their
last stronghold in Syria's Qalamoun region, between the Lebanese border
and the Syrian capital Damascus, an important route for smuggling
supplies to rebels from Lebanon.
Government
forces have taken a string of other rebel-held towns in the area in the
past month and are now making a final push on Yabroud. Earlier this
week, Syrian helicopters attacked the town's outskirts with barrel bombs
— containers packed with explosives and fuel that the government has
used to devastating effect in other rebel-held urban areas in Sryia.
The
fighting has contributed to a wave of refugees fleeing across the
border to to Arsal. In the past two weeks alone, 13,000 arrived in
Arsal, which has already been overwhelmed by Syrians settling in
makeshift camps in the fields and hills on its outskirts.
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In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, a Lebanese nurse, left, and Syrian man, right, ca …
Facilities for the rebels
have geared up as well in Arsal. Two months ago, a new hospital opened
in the town with two operating theaters, an emergency room and seven
doctors on staff, including several surgeons, who perform an average six
operations a day.
So far, up
to 200 people have been treated there, mostly Syrian fighters and
civilians, said Bassem Faris, a Syrian doctor and the hospital's
manager. He was previously in Yabroud treating fighters at a makeshift
hospital but had to flee the area after the fall of Qusair.
"Every one of us has a role to play in this revolution, and I will be more useful if I treat people and save lives," Faris said.
