Syrian army, Hezbollah advance in Zabadani city near Lebanon

The Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah group advanced Sunday into the city of Zabadani near the Lebanese borders, just a day after the negotiations for a pacification there had come to a halt, local media said.

The Syrian army and Hezbollah captured new buildings in the western part of Zabadani, state news agency SANA said, adding that the military forces will continue haunting "terrorists" toward the central part of the city.

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the battles flared Sunday in Zabadani, as the military forces and Hezbollah are engaged in intense battles in the eastern part of the city.

Zabadani had witnessed a brief ceasefire that lasted from Wednesday till Saturday morning, part of a truce coupled with negotiations to bring the conflict in this city and two Shiite towns in northwestern Syria to a halt.

The truce, which was brokered by Turkey and Iran, came over two weeks after the Syrian army backed by Hezbollah mounted a shattering offensive against Sunni-led militant groups, mainly the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, in the city of Zabadani.

In retaliation to the government troops' offensive, several jihadi groups in the northwestern province of Idlib mounted an attack against the Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa, one of the few remaining government strongholds in Idlib.

The truce was holding will and the prospects were encouraging, before the negotiations between the Iranians and the rebels was halted over the rebels' demand that the government troops must release 20,000 Islamist fighters and sympathizers from its jails, according to the Observatory.

On Sunday, the al-Mayadeen TV said the rebels around the two Shiite towns were amassing, in what appeared to be a fresh attempt to attack the towns of 40,000 Shiite people. Endit