Iraq fighters head to Syria to battle rebels but Lebanon's Hezbollah stays out, sources say

Iran-backed militants from Iraq have reportedly crossed over into Syria to assist the Assad regime in repelling the revived rebel offensive in the country, as Damascus’s allies appear to be forming a new alliance.

According to Reuters news agency, two Iraqi security sources told it that at least 300 fighters – primarily from the Iran-backed Badr and Nujabaa groups – crossed over the Iraqi border into Syria late on Sunday, reportedly using a dirt road to avoid the official border crossing.

A senior Syrian military source was also quoted by the news agency as confirming that the militants “are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north”, with the fighters having crossed the border area in small groups in order to avoid attention and the risk of air strikes.

The reports of the Iraqi militias’ movements come after the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad called for assistance and reinforcements from its allies as well as other states in the region over the past week of the Syrian opposition groups’ rapid advance in their offensive throughout northern and western Syria.

After those initial shock rebel victories, which included the conquest of the major city of Aleppo and potentially soon, Hama, the advance has predictably slowed as regime forces appear to have shored up some measure of defence while backed by Russian air strikes on rebel and civilian sites.

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