July 29, 2017 photo, a Hezbollah fighter stands at a watchtower at the site where clashes erupted between Hezbollah and al-Qaida-linked fighters in Wadi al-Kheil or al-Kheil Valley in the Lebanon-Syria border. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah has redeployed hundreds of its fighters from the southern Deir Ezzor countryside to northern Hama in order to support the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) operations there, Lebanese and Syrian pro-government activists revealed on May 30.
The activists didn’t provide additional details on the matter. However, it is very likely the fighters who were deployed in northern Hama are a part of Hezbollah’s elite units, which have been operating in southern Deir Ezzor for more than two years now.
Deir Ezzor 24, a pro-opposition news blog based in the eastern governorate, confirmed that several Iranian-backed local units were redeployed in northern Hama.
“The Iranian militia withdrew about 200 elements from the town of Mayadin in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor to the northern Hama countryside,” the blog said in a report.
The deployment of these units came as Turkey is reportedly negotiating a ceasefire around Idlib with Russia. A previous ceasefire agreement failed catastrophically, when Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies carried out a counter-attack on the SAA.
If the Turkish efforts fail, Hezbollah and Iranian-backed forces could support a new SAA ground attack in northern Hama.
