(Zamana Al Wasl)- Rebel groups and activists on Friday demanded a human corridor for trapped Syrian refugees in Juroud Arsal as the regime army and Hezbollah militia launch major offensive to drive rebels from last foothold on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
A Syrian refugee was killed on Friday in Hezbollah artillery on the refugee camps of Wadi Hamid that shelter 15,000 people.
Saraya Ahl al-Sham said the refugees should be protected and should not be a target of Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad forces.
A Lebanese security source said refugees living in the area were fleeing toward Arsal and the Lebanese army was facilitating their passage with U.N. supervision.
U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) spokeswoman Lisa Abou Khaled said only a small number of people had fled to Arsal town so far.
"UNHCR has only received confirmation ... that two Syrian families have arrived in the town of Arsal from the outskirts," she said.
Several thousand Syrian refugees occupy camps east of Juroud Arsal, a barren mountainous zone between Syria and Lebanon that has served as a base for Islamic State militants, jihadists and other rebels fighting in Syria's six-year civil war.
The regime operation targeted insurgents from the Nusra Front group in the mountainous outskirts of the Lebanese town of Arsal and areas near the Syrian town of Fleita, a pro-regime military commander told Reuters.
Media run by Hezbollah reported significant gains by its side in the early stage of the operation.
Hussein Abu Ali, media activist, told Zaman al-Wasl that Saraya Ahl al-Sham had killed 15 Hezbollah militants in missiles attack.
Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said Nusra militants were under attack in Juroud Arsal and in areas near the Syrian town of Fleita. A military news outlet run by Hezbollah reported Syrian army air strikes on Nusra positions near Fleita. (With Reuters)
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