海角大神

Syrian rebels battle Hezbollah as border with Lebanon blurs

Syrian rebels say they will continue to carry out attacks inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah guerrillas' support for the Assad regime's assault on strategic border town Qusair. Some Lebanese Sunni Muslims have joined the Syrian rebels.

Several fighters were killed in an overnight clash between Hezbollah fighters and Syrian rebel forces in聽's eastern border region with聽, Lebanese security sources said on Sunday.

One source said 15 rebels were killed in the fighting east of the Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek, but the exact toll would not be clear until bodies could be retrieved from the remote and rugged border area. One Hezbollah fighter also died, he said.

's two-year-old conflict has increasingly sucked in its smaller neighbour, with deadly fighting shaking the northern Lebanese city of聽聽and rockets hitting the Bekaa Valley and southern Beirut.

Guerrillas from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, which supports the Iranian-backed President聽, are fighting alongside his army to drive rebels from the Syrian border town of聽, while Lebanese Sunni Muslim fighters have joined the anti-Assad revolt.

The latest fighting took place near聽聽in a finger of Lebanese territory which extends into聽. The sources said the rebels may have been ambushed as they set up rockets to fire into Shi'ite areas of the Bekaa Valley.

Rebels have said they will carry out attacks inside聽聽in response to Hezbollah's support for Assad's assault on聽, a strategic town for rebel weapons supplies and fighters coming into聽听蹿谤辞尘听.

罢丑别听聽said on Saturday that up to 1,500 wounded people might be trapped inside聽聽and warned all sides that they would be held accountable for the suffering of civilians.

叠耻迟听聽diplomats said聽聽blocked a council declaration of alarm over the two-week siege of, arguing that the council had done nothing when the town was first taken over by anti-Assad fighters.

The draft statement also urged forces loyal to Assad and rebels trying to oust him "to do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties and for the聽聽to exercise its responsibility to protect civilians".

It appealed to聽聽"to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access to impartial humanitarian actors, including U.N. agencies, to reach civilians trapped in al-".

's move to block the statement highlights the deep chasm between聽聽and Western nations on how to deal with the war in聽聽despite joint efforts by Washington and聽聽to convene a peace conference on.

French Foreign Minister聽聽suggested on Sunday that the conference could take place in July. He said the Syrian government and the opposition must attend what he called "the last chance" for a negotiated solution.

"It's not just about getting round the table and then asking what are we going to talk about. It needs to be prepared. That is why I say that the July date would be suitable," Fabius said.

Assad has lost control of large areas of northern and聽聽but his forces have been fighting fierce counter-offensives in the south and centre of the country, including聽, Deraa and聽.

The fighting has strengthened Assad's hand ahead of the proposed peace talks, which the 47-year-old leader says he supports in principle. However he has dampened prospects of any transfer of his powers to a transitional government - a central element of efforts to secure a political solution. Assad's opponents have also yet to commit to the peace talks.

The uprising against Assad, from the Alawite minority which is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has killed at least 80,000 people, driven 1.5 million refugees across its borders and fuelled regional sectarian tensions.

Leading Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, based in聽聽which has led regional pressure for Assad's overthrow, called on Saturday for holy war against the Syrian government after intervention by Hezbollah, whose name in Arabic means the聽.听

(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Angus MacSwan)