Fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah joined Syrian troops battling rebels near Damascus on Wednesday, monitors said, as President Bashar al-Assad's regime kept up a push to cut off the insurgents' supply lines.
"Army troops and Hezbollah members fought rebels near the Khomeini hospital in Zayabiyeh village," southeast of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"Hezbollah fighters, who have a strong presence at Sayyida Zeinab [in southeastern Damascus], are trying to seize control of villages near Zayabiyeh and Babila."
The Syrian army shelled both Zayabiyeh and Babila, said the group which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground for its reports.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the army was advancing towards Zayabiyeh, just south of the confessionally mixed district of Sayyida Zeinab, named after an important Shiite Muslim shrine.
Activists say the regime is trying to crush the rebellion on the outskirts of Damascus in order to cut off supply lines leading into rebel pockets inside the capital.
"There is a fierce campaign against the [rebels] south of the capital," said Damascus-based activist Matar Ismail.
"The humanitarian situation is very critical... We believe the [regime] is trying to test the [rebels'] strength, in order to try to advance on the south of the capital," Ismail told AFP over the Internet.
Ismail said Hezbollah and the Abu al-Fadl Abbas brigade -- a mostly Syrian Shiite force that has also attracted Shiite fighters from elsewhere in the region -- were playing a key role in the fight.
"Army troops and Hezbollah members fought rebels near the Khomeini hospital in Zayabiyeh village," southeast of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"Hezbollah fighters, who have a strong presence at Sayyida Zeinab [in southeastern Damascus], are trying to seize control of villages near Zayabiyeh and Babila."
The Syrian army shelled both Zayabiyeh and Babila, said the group which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground for its reports.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the army was advancing towards Zayabiyeh, just south of the confessionally mixed district of Sayyida Zeinab, named after an important Shiite Muslim shrine.
Activists say the regime is trying to crush the rebellion on the outskirts of Damascus in order to cut off supply lines leading into rebel pockets inside the capital.
"There is a fierce campaign against the [rebels] south of the capital," said Damascus-based activist Matar Ismail.
"The humanitarian situation is very critical... We believe the [regime] is trying to test the [rebels'] strength, in order to try to advance on the south of the capital," Ismail told AFP over the Internet.
Ismail said Hezbollah and the Abu al-Fadl Abbas brigade -- a mostly Syrian Shiite force that has also attracted Shiite fighters from elsewhere in the region -- were playing a key role in the fight.
