Shia clans withdraw from Syria to Lebanon

Shia clans have announced their withdrawal from Syria to Lebanon after days of clashes with Syrian forces on the border, the Middle East Eye reported on February 10th.

Syria’s interim government, which mostly consists of members of former rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), began an “extensive campaign” in the border village of Hawik in Syria on February 6th.

The region, which is purportedly part of a smuggling path used by Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement that supported Syria’s former government, is largely populated with members of the Zaiter and Jaafar clans that have Syrian and Lebanese members.

Middle East Eye