Fighting near the Israeli border.
Photo: EPA
Security concerns on the Israel-Syria border continued Sunday, after a report in the Lebanese news website el-Nashra covered the Syrian Army's continued military counter-offensive against al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra militants who recently captured the Quneitra border crossing and surrounding towns on the Golan Hieghts.
Video from the weekend report in Lebanon shows how Syrian artillery is loaded with fresh rounds before firing on rebel positions.
Syrian Army artillery fires on rebel postions.
Over the course of the weekend, clashes continued between the Syrian army and the al-Nusra led rebels in the Golan, mostly in the suburbs of Old Quneitra instead of in the city itself after the rebels announced a new, concerted offensive in the area.
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Among other things, the Islamic militants claimed Saturday that they had captured a post previously manned by a Syrian air defense battalion in the village of Naba al-Sakher as well as a hospital near Quneitra.
Fighting near the Israeli border
The rebels then said that they had managed to capture all of the Syrian Army's posts in and around Naba al-Sakher. The Syrian Army continued efforts to push back the rebels from those areas using airstrikes. The Army's goal is to recapture the areas leading up to the ceasefire line, which are currently under control of the al-Nusra militants.
On Sunday morning, al-Watan news reported that the Syrian regime's combat units had hit several rebel positions in Quneitra and eleminated several of the militants. At the same time, fierce battles were noted in towns nearby and the al-Watan report said that Syrian troops were being re-deployed - a hint of withdrawal.