Hizbollah using weaponised drones against Daesh in Syria

BEIRUT — Lebanese militant movement Hizbollah has used weaponised drones against the Daesh group across the border in war-ravaged Syria, its media arm said on Monday.

A source on the ground told AFP it was the first time that Hizbollah had deployed weaponised drones against Daesh in Syria, where the Shiite movement is fighting to bolster President Bashar Assad's forces.

"The armed drones of the Resistance [Hizbollah] targeted Daesh positions and fortifications in western Qalamun," Hizbollah's War Media channel said.

On Saturday, Hizbollah said it had launched an operation against Daesh in a hilly region known as western Qalamun, near Syria's border with Lebanon.

Lebanon's army announced a simultaneous offensive on the Lebanese side of the frontier, and has already recaptured two-thirds of the area.

A source on the ground told AFP on Monday that "this is the first time Hizbollah has used weaponised drones in a clash with Daesh". 

The group had deployed such drones in previous clashes with other extremists and rebels, "but now we are unleashing a barrage of bombs", the source said.

Security along Lebanon's unmarked eastern border with Syria has long been a concern.

Last month, Hizbollah waged a six-day assault against Al Qaeda's former affiliate in the border region, which ended in the evacuation of the militants and thousands of civilians.