MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – 10 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in clashes with Jabhat al-Nusra militants in eastern Lebanon, a Hezbollah source told RIA Novosti Monday.
"10 Hezbollah fighters died while countering the yesterday attack on a checkpoint, some people were seriously wounded. A few dozen terrorists [from the Jabhat al-Nusra group] were eliminated, those who survived dropped their weapons and ammunition and fled from the battlefield," the source said.
On Sunday, Hezbollah fighters reportedly countered an attack launched by Islamic State (IS) militants in Lebanon's mountainous region of Brital, on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Hezbollah is a paramilitary and political organization originating in Lebanon's Shiite population. It is considered a terrorist state by many Western governments including Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and many European countries, but not by Russia.
Hezbollah has been fighting against Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the al-Nusra Front, which is an affiliate of al-Qaeda. Hezbollah fighters have also been taking part in the Syrian government's operations against the armed opposition and the IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The IS has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. The militants expanded their operations to northern and western Iraq in June, 2014.
IS and al-Nusra positions are being targeted by the US-led anti-terrorist coalition, which is currently conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
