Syrian forces lay siege to fighter held border city

(MENAFN- Arab News) BEIRUT: The Syrian Army and Lebanese group Hezbollah said they had launched a major ground and air assault on the fighter-held Syrian city of Zabadani on Saturday and were closing in on the insurgents holed up inside.
The army with its Shiite ally Hezbollah has long sought to wrest control of Zabadani from the Sunni rebels. The city is near the Lebanese border and the Beirut-Damascus highway that links the countries and capturing it would be a major strategic gain for Syrian President Bashar al Assad's government.
Footage released on media showed large plumes of fire rising from the city and the sounds of aerial bombardment and heavy artillery shelling could be heard.
The once popular resort city north-west of the capital Damascus is one of the fighers' last strongholds along the border. It was part of a major supply route for weapons sent by Syria to Hezbollah before the 2011 outbreak of the Syrian conflict which has killed over 200000 people.
The Syrian Army said it had inflicted heavy casualties on 'the terrorist groups fortified inside the city' and was advancing from several fronts toward their positions.
A hilltop west of Zabadani that overlooks rebel positions known as Qalat Al Tel was also captured the army said.
The fighters said they had planted mines around the city which is now mostly deserted and were well prepared to repel the assault.
The Syrian military and pro-government fighters have regularly clashed with fighters in the mountainous area north of the capital and violence from the four-year-old civil war has regularly spilled over into Lebanon. The fighter groups in the area include Al-Qaeda's Syrian wing the Nusra Front.