Syria conflict pits Shia against Sunni as Hezbollah says this is war we must win

Commander of militant Lebanese group claims that it has been forced to intervene in self-defence after sectarian attacks

The Syria conflict is increasingly dragging in militant groups from surrounding countries. Photograph: -/ !P/"etty #mages #n a grand manor house in northern Lebanon$ eight men$ all of them %ell-to-do professionals$ had gathered to hear an important visitor talk about the %ar. Their guest %as late& the going had been heavy across the mountain from 'eirut$ north up the 'ekaa valley and finally %est along the flat$ spotless$ #ranian-made high%ay that leads to (ermel. rriving from the bitter chill of a %inter evening$ he eased into a %arm living room %here the e)pectant men edged for%ard$ addressing the ne% arrival by a nom de guerre %idely kno%n throughout (e*bollah$ the po%erful militant group he had +oined more than ,- years ago. .This is a %ar not +ust against us$ but against humanity$. he said. . nd it is one that %e %ill %in.. (e %as referring to the %ar to the east in Syria$ a conflict in %hich (e*bollah has

admitted playing a significant role$ rallying to the cause of the Syrian army in its protracted battle against the opposition forces and Sunni #slamist groupings ranged against it. Speaking carefully and deliberately$ the commander$ %hom the "uardian agreed not to name$ initially stuck to the official script that characterises (e*bollah as reluctant saviours of a beleaguered nation hemmed in by e)tremist Sunni militants on one side and by #srael on the other. #n nearly three years of insurrection and %ar in Syria$ it has been difficult to hear anything else from a (e*bollah official. 'ut over t%o increasingly unguarded hours$ the commander strayed on to themes rarely covered: the regional impact of the group/s role in Syria$ the intensity of the fighting and the performance of the Syrian rmy$ %hich not long ago had been fighting a losing battle to retain control of the country. Those foregathered listened intently. ll broadly supported the fight against the Syrian opposition$ even if they differed on the virtues of Syria/s leader$ 'ashar al- ssad. .They fight %ell. #t is not fair to them to say that they are not taking the lead$. he said of the battle-%orn military regime. .They are there and they are fighting. They have lost 0-$--- men. That is not an army that isn/t fighting. 1e are there giving advice and in some cases tactical leadership. 1e do not take a lead role.. !ifteen kilometres north-east$ the ruins of the Syrian border to%n of 2usayr tell a different story. #n 3ay$ (e*bollah stormed the to%n from the south$ achieving in three %eeks %hat the army it supports had been unable to do in t%o years. Syrian tanks and troops took blocking positions to the north and east. The attack is believed to be the biggest co-ordinated engagement ever fought by the #ranian-backed$ e)clusively Shia #slamic militia$ %hich is %ell-attuned to guerrilla %arfare$ but less so to a full frontal assault on a fortified urban centre. The 2usayr battle cost (e*bollah 44, men. #t %as$ ho%ever$ defining for a different reason: it marked the first time that the group/s leader$ (assan 5asrallah$ had been prepared to reveal that his members %ere indeed fighting in Syria. The ackno%ledgment %as perceived by many Sunni rab leaders as an act of belligerence that poured fuel on the sectarian fire. #n the eyes of Saudi rabia and many of the "ulf states$ the troika of #ran$ (e*bollah and the la%ite-led ssad regime are no longer shy about taking the fight to Sunni 3uslims in the name of regional hegemony. .#t is not like that at all$. the commander said. .They are the ma+ority and they think they are the victims. ren/t minorities supposed to be the vulnerable ones6 1e are defending our lands. 1e are defending our interests. #f the takfiris 7fundamentalist Sunni #slamists8 had not started attacking the border Shia villages$ %e %ould not have been forced to act.. Throughout the discussion$ the commander labelled all members of the opposition as

takfiris. Pressed on %hether he believed any opposition fighters remained committed to the uprising/s original goals of reorienting po%er %ithin Syria/s current borders$ he said: 9#f there %ere any mainstream revolutionaries back then$ there are very fe% no%. .#n 7Sunni8 history #bn Tarmeyah spoke out three times against us. 1e have kno%n %hat %e have been up against for a long time.. The pertinence of ancient teachings to a here-and-no% battle is a common theme on both sides of a no% bitter and protracted divide %hich is steadily becoming the most serious schism bet%een the t%o #slamic sects since a seminal dispute over %ho should succeed the prophet 3uhammad nearly 4$:-- years ago. #ncreasing numbers on both sides ; the almost e)clusively Sunni opposition and the largely Shia-aligned interests of the regime ; frame the %ar as a prelude to an apocalyptic sho%do%n %ith a preordained foe. To the (e*bollah leader$ the role of the group is under%ritten by #slamic teachings$ +ust as much as it is dictated by modern strategic realities. .The battle is intense. The takfiris are committed. They %ant to destroy Syria and %e %ill not let them.. <espite murmurings of unease in parts of Lebanon/s Shia heartland$ he said (e*bollah and its supporters resolutely supported the group/s involvement in the %ar. 9#t is an e)tension of the ongoing %ar 7%ith #srael8$= he said. 9The enemy %ears a ne% cloth. They may not be doing all of this themselves$ but their interests are being served.= sked %hy it had taken more than t%o years for 5asrallah to ackno%ledge the group/s intervention$ he said: 9There %as a process needed. People are absolutely committed to the reality no% because they kno% it is one and the same hand. .1e started around the Sayeda >ainab mos?ue 7a revered Shia shrine near <amascus8$ then moved to the border villages$ then 2usayr. There are members fighting throughout the country$ but not in huge numbers.. @ver the past three %eeks$ some (e*bollah members have been stationed on the outskirts of leppo$ along %ith members of the #ranian military and a large contingent of a Shia militia$ bu al-!adl al- bbas$ dra%n mainly from #ra?i volunteers. (e*bollah is also playing a lead role in the 2alamoun mountains north-%est of <amascus ; a battle that if %on %ould allo% the victor access from the capital to Syria/s third city$ (oms. @n the other side are a mi) of Syrians fighting to oust ssad and replace him %ith another leader$ and +ihadists %ho see the insurrection as means of re-establishing a caliphate in the area and a fundamentalist #slamic society that reflects the seventhcentury life of the prophet 3uhammad. !ighting in both areas has been intense over the past %eek$ %ith more than :,- people

reported to have been killed in eastern leppo. (elicopters dropping improvised e)plosives are responsible for much of the carnage and medics in leppo report that large numbers of civilians are among the casualties. #n 2alamoun$ the battle is being fought in mountains and valleys$ the type of terrain in %hich (e*bollah has trained for more than three decades. The conversation broadens. These men are at home here. The founding parade that formed the organisation %as held not far from this spot in 4AB,. Street posts throughout (ermel are festooned %ith fading posters of men %ho have died in (e*bollah/s short$ bloody history. ll are revered as martyrs in the organisation/s heartland. 3any had died in battles past$ fought against a traditional foe$ #srael. 'ut ne% vivid photos of young fresh-faced men and boys +ut from among them. They instead perished in Syria$ fighting other 3uslims. nd the (e*bollah leader had commanded many of them. maid made coffee runs from a spotless kitchen to the right of the group and a portrait of a smiling 'ashar al- ssad$ his late father (afe*$ and (assan 5asrallah overlooked them from a facing %all. The conversation turned to the role of the CS in the region and its rapproachment %ith #ran. 9They seem to be framing their foreign policy 7in the 3iddle Dast8 solely through the vie% of protecting #srael$= he said. 9There are$ of course oil and gas interests$ especially %ith #ran and Pakistan. 'ut the discussions %ith #ran are %elcomed. #t is a step for%ard.= s for the old foe$ #srael$ he said: 95one of their borders are safe no% and this is not a good thing for them. They cannot be happy %ith the momentum any%here in the region$ especially Syria. Dgypt is perhaps the only border that gives them comfort. The rest are outside of their control.= Solar-po%ered lamps provided by #ran light the pristine road back to the 'ekaa Ealley$ %here potholes and darkness replace the stretch of bitumen. (ere$ only 4Fkm from one of (e*bollah/s main strongholds$ the %orld vie% also changes suddenly. t the first Lebanese army checkpoint heading south$ several soldiers stopped our car and asked if %e had a place for one of them. 9#/m deserting$= a 4A-year-old Sunni 3uslim conscript said. 9#/ve had enough of this. nother rocket 7from Syria8 +ust landed. # %ant to go there and fight.= Dchoing the %ords of the (e*bollah leader$ he said: 9This is a %ar that %e cannot lose. 1e %ill %in$ %hatever the cost.=