Hezbollah mobilizes ahead of US strike

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse

Hezbollah’s chief Nasrallah (C) delivers a speech in this August photo. AFP photo

Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah group, a close ally of the Syrian regime, is redeploying its forces ahead of possible U.S. strikes on Damascus, according to witnesses in Lebanon.

The reports come as the daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to both Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, said yesterday that the group had “called on all its officers and members to man their positions.” Residents speaking to Agence France-Presse in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre said there appeared to be a general mobilization of the group’s members, even if such a movement was not being publicly discussed. Many Hezbollah fighters have disappeared from local villages in the last five days, though strict security measures around group headquarters and checkpoints have remained in place, residents said.

The situation is the same in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, a stronghold of the organization. Residents said fighters, including gunners, had left their regular posts, and switched off their mobile phones to ensure they could not be traced.

A Hezbollah spokesman declined to comment on the reported redeployment of the group’s forces.