(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian activists said 48 Shiite militants, mostly Iranian and Afghan, were killed by rebels on Friday in the northern province of Aleppo as Hezbollah leader vowed to send more militiamen to the war-torn country.
More 18 Palestinian militants loyal to Bashar al-Assad have been killed in al-Zahraa battlefield, main Shiite stronghold in Aleppo, activists added.
The high death toll among Assad's allied militias come as rebels made slow gains against Islamic State fighters and regime forces after setback.
On Friday, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said it will send more fighters to Aleppo, a battleground where it has suffered heavy losses fighting alongside regime forces against insurgent groups.
Hassan Nasrallah said thousands of Hezbollah's Sunni militant foes had recently entered Syria via the Turkish border with the aim of taking over Aleppo and its surrounding countryside.
"We are facing a new wave...of projects of war against Syria which are being waged in northern Syria, particularly in the Aleppo region," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast live on the group's Al Manar TV.
"The defense of Aleppo is the defense of the rest of Syria, it is the defense of Damascus, it is also the defense of Lebanon, and of Iraq," he said.
"We will increase our presence in Aleppo," he said. "Retreat is not permissible."
Aleppo has been a focus of intensified fighting in the months since peace talks in Geneva broke down and a ceasefire deal brokered by Washington and Moscow unraveled.
-Incendiary Weapons-
The United Nations is concerned by the opposition's accusations that incendiary weapons have been used in Syria but said on Friday it is unable to verify the reports.
The Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to launch an investigation into its accusations that Russia has used air-delivered incendiary weapons and cluster bombs in Syria.
The Russian mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment on the accusations.
"We are concerned about the reports of the use of incendiary weapons in Aleppo, Syria," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said. "We are not in a position to verify these reports."
"We expect that all parties and states involved in the conflict will refrain from their use in this way," he said.
Russia deployed warplanes to Syria last year to support al-Assad against rebels seeking to end his rule. A crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protesters five years ago sparked a civil war, and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq.
Incendiary weapons use substances that are designed to set fire to objects or burn people, and cluster munitions are containers that explode in the air to distribute smaller bombs over a large area. Both are banned under the Convention on Conventional Weapons. (With Reuters)
More 18 Palestinian militants loyal to Bashar al-Assad have been killed in al-Zahraa battlefield, main Shiite stronghold in Aleppo, activists added.
The high death toll among Assad's allied militias come as rebels made slow gains against Islamic State fighters and regime forces after setback.
On Friday, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said it will send more fighters to Aleppo, a battleground where it has suffered heavy losses fighting alongside regime forces against insurgent groups.
Hassan Nasrallah said thousands of Hezbollah's Sunni militant foes had recently entered Syria via the Turkish border with the aim of taking over Aleppo and its surrounding countryside.
"We are facing a new wave...of projects of war against Syria which are being waged in northern Syria, particularly in the Aleppo region," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast live on the group's Al Manar TV.
"The defense of Aleppo is the defense of the rest of Syria, it is the defense of Damascus, it is also the defense of Lebanon, and of Iraq," he said.
"We will increase our presence in Aleppo," he said. "Retreat is not permissible."
Aleppo has been a focus of intensified fighting in the months since peace talks in Geneva broke down and a ceasefire deal brokered by Washington and Moscow unraveled.
-Incendiary Weapons-
The United Nations is concerned by the opposition's accusations that incendiary weapons have been used in Syria but said on Friday it is unable to verify the reports.
The Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to launch an investigation into its accusations that Russia has used air-delivered incendiary weapons and cluster bombs in Syria.
The Russian mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment on the accusations.
"We are concerned about the reports of the use of incendiary weapons in Aleppo, Syria," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said. "We are not in a position to verify these reports."
"We expect that all parties and states involved in the conflict will refrain from their use in this way," he said.
Russia deployed warplanes to Syria last year to support al-Assad against rebels seeking to end his rule. A crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protesters five years ago sparked a civil war, and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq.
Incendiary weapons use substances that are designed to set fire to objects or burn people, and cluster munitions are containers that explode in the air to distribute smaller bombs over a large area. Both are banned under the Convention on Conventional Weapons. (With Reuters)
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