On June 3, the 17 rebel commanders held a meeting at which 14 of them voted to retreat from Qusayr. In addition to a shortage of ammunition and deteriorating morale, the rebels could no longer cope with large numbers of wounded and lack of food and water. Rebel fighters described scenes of children forced to drink sewage water, people eating leaves from trees, and wounds rotting due to lack of medicine. The regime refused to negotiate with the rebels in Qusayr, but said there was a known corridor to the north that was open.
The battle concluded early on June 5 when the SAA and Hizb Allah launched a heavy bombardment of the last rebel-held enclave of Qusayr, described by one rebel fighter as the most intense shelling of the entire battle. Most of the fleeing rebels and civilians avoided the roads and moved on foot around the northeastern corner of Lebanon to the area of Hassia on the Damascus-Homs highway before slipping into Lebanon. The rebels published the names of fighters they said died in the battle, but the true figure is probably higher.
These reasons made Qusayr an appropriate test case for Hizb Allah to put its newly-acquired urban warfare skills into practice with the SAA providing key artillery and aerial support. In the s and s, Hizb Allah pursued hit-and-run guerrilla-style tactics in a rural environment against Israeli troops then occupying southern Lebanon.
The group fought in urban areas during the month-long war with Israel in , but mainly in a defensive rather than offensive capacity. The post urban warfare training, which includes offensive and defensive tactics, is thought to be preparation for possible commando-style raids into Israel in the event of another war with the country.
Qusayr allowed Hizb Allah to gain experience using these new skills. Furthermore, although the bulk of Hizb Allah combatants in Syria appear to be older combat veterans, a younger, post generation of recruits have been deployed into battles. The experience accrued in combat and urban warfare should make the organization a more formidable challenge in any future war against Israel, an assessment that has been recognized by the Israeli military.
The defeat of the rebels in Qusayr has allowed the al-Assad regime to gain ground along the crucial corridor linking Damascus to Tartus and the Mediterranean coast. Furthermore, it had a knock-on effect of compelling the rebel defenders of Tel Kalakh, which lies close to the Homs-Tartus highway, two miles north of the border with Lebanon and 21 miles northwest of Qusayr, to surrender the town in June to government forces after a two-year siege. Fresh from victory in Qusayr, the SAA turned its attention to regaining the last rebel-held pockets in Homs, a strategically placed transport node.
Yet there are indications that the rebels are planning to mount a counterattack against SAA forces in Qusayr to recapture the town. Furthermore, the rebels deployed in Qalamoun district are expecting a Hizb Allah-led assault against the area once Homs has fallen. In street fighting in Homs, for example, veteran Hizb Allah fighters command squads of Syrian soldiers, essentially acting as non-commissioned officers NCO to the less experienced regular troops.
Hizb Allah does not have the capacity to replicate its role in Qusayr by taking the tactical lead in assaults against major urban areas. The number of people killed as a result of the continuing bombardment of al-Qusayr is not known. One estimate is people from the beginning of the military attack on the city and more than 2, wounded, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. But, other activists say the death toll is far higher. The Free Syrian Army's Awad blamed the international community and the Syrian National Coalition, which he said did not represent all Syrian people, for the fall of the city.
Now you can expect a large massacre. But Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said the Red Cross would only be allowed to enter the town once "military operations" were complete. Meanwhile, the international community remains torn on how to deal with the ongoing conflict, now in its third year. On Saturday, Russia vetoed a U. Security Council declaration of alarm over al-Qusayr provoking an official rebuke from the SNC, which called it a "threat to the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians living in the region.
Russia has been a consistent advocate for talks to resolve the Syrian crisis while delivering an advanced S air defense system to Damascus.
Still, the real turn on fortunes for the regime has come through the influx of thousands Hezbollah fighters in the region. Many of these areas remain under heavy security, while in others there are no basic services. Qusayr and its surroundings have long been a route for smugglers. Rebels made use of it before their defeat and it is now a main supply route for Hezbollah into Syria.
This has made the area a target for Israel, which regularly carries out air strikes inside Syria against Iranian backed forces. Bazari said their homecoming depended on security clearances and basic services being restored. For now, any prospect for their return looks unlikely. World News Updated.
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