Akhbar Al Aan – In yet another instance of Syrian regime’s lack of confidence in its own members, several Syrian army snipers were replaced by Hizballah fighters, because they would deliberately miss their target. According to a source from the Syrian intelligence apparatus, “the first batch of Hizballah fighters to support the regime forces were professional snipers. They are more efficient and obedient.” He added that the first time the Hizballah snipers were deployed was last summer in Aleppo.
Around that time, Hizballah fighters were brought in to help the regime break the deadlock over Darya, a town to the south west of Damascus. They were lured in under the pretext to defend the Shiite holy places.
The source told Akhbar Al-Aan, that the number of Hizballah fighters in Syria now stands at 14,000. They are distributed as follows:
4500 in Damascus and the suburban areas
5000 in Homs and the suburban areas
3500 in Aleppo and the suburban areas
1000 in Der’a and the suburban areas
Until 18 June 2013, the number of Hizballah fighters killed in battles against the Syrian opposition totaled 1092. Most of them in Al-Qusayr.
According to the source, the regime has been providing Hizbalalh over the past year with all types of short to far range missiles. Until few months back, the person in charge of this file was Brigadier General Muhammad Sulayman who was mysteriously assassinated in his hometown of Tartus. The file is now handled by Brigadier General Bassam Hasan who works under Brigadier Major Jamil Hasan, commander of the Air Force Intelligence Department.