Eastern Ghouta | Hezbollah renews search for remains of its fighters

Rif Dimashq province: Lebanese “Hezbollah” has renewed search for remains of its fighters killed in battles against opposition and jihadist factions during their control of Eastern Ghouta, SOHR activists said.

Since early November, groups of “4th Division,” headed by Maher al-Assad, who is President Bashar al-Assad’s brother, Hezbollah’s military fighters and special forces, civilians from Eastern Ghouta controlled by faction prior to March 2018, and former fighters of opposition factions who have reconciled with security services and joined regime forces under “reconciliation” deals made following the deportation of factions and anti- “reconciliation” deals to northern Syria, have been searching for the remains of Hezbollah fighters killed in the battles of al- Marj area of Eastern Ghouta countryside between 2013 to 2016, in the areas of al-Qaisa, al-Jarba, al-Qasimya,al- Balaliya and Deir Salman.

They’ve been searching for the fighters’ remains for nearly 25 days near frontlines that experienced fierce battles between regime forces and Hezbollah, on one hand, and the jihadist and opposition factions, on the other, where search teams were able to find the remains of three fighters whose identities remained unknown, their bodies were transferred to the hospitals in the capital, Damascus.

It is worth noting that since the Syrian regime backed by Russia has controlled Eastern Ghouta, Lebanese “Hezbollah” and Iran-backed militias have conducted extensive searches for the remains of their fighters killed in previous battles in al- Marj area in Eastern Ghouta because it is one of the most prominent areas where Lebanese “Hezbollah” fighters and Iranian militias are present on the fronts of Eastern Ghouta, where former factional fighters help Lebanese “Hezbollah” fighters and Iran-backed militias to know where the bodies were buried.