Syrian regime forces were on Monday readying an assault on the last rebel-held areas in the Qalamoun mountains, strategically located on the Lebanese border, after overrunning key opposition bastion Yabrud. The capture of Yabrud on Sunday by Syrian troops and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters came shortly after the conflict entered its fourth year and marked a significant setback for the rebels as it severs their supply lines from across the border.
It also raised fears of further spillover of the conflict into Lebanon, where Sunni extremists carried out a suicide car bomb attack late Sunday in a Hezbollah-dominated area that killed two members of the Shiite group, including a local official. A security source in Damascus said the army would soon launch operations "in all areas where terrorists are to be found," using the regime's term for rebels battling to end the Assad family's four-decade rule.
"The aim of the army operation is to entirely secure the border and to close all corridors to Lebanon." The fighting along the border has sparked a fresh flight of civilians into Lebanon, which is already hosting nearly a million refugees, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
"So far 150 families have crossed the border since Yabrud fell," said the UNHCR's Lisa Abu Khaled. "NGOs there were on standby so they have handed out food, blankets, etc, and the UN plans to register the arrivals this week." Speaking to AFP via the Internet from the Qalamoun mountains, activist Jawad al-Sayed said all civilians were "evacuated" from Yabrud before the town fell, either to areas nearby or to neighbouring Lebanon.
The road, he said, was dangerous, echoing reports from a day earlier that at least six people, including two children, were killed in air strikes as they fled for Lebanon. "The situation of the civilians is very sad... So we have two options, either to go to Lebanon... or to stay here and resist," said Sayed.
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