A school on the heights of the Lebanese village of Qasr, in Hermel, damaged by a bombing from the new Syrian security forces on Feb. 13, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/OLJ)
The villages of Hermel, bordering Syria, hold their breath once more as western Syria has been rocked for two days by fighting of unprecedented violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Dec. 8, 2024. These clashes have resulted in more than 140 deaths among militias loyal to the former Assad regime and the new security forces, who are conducting combing operations and have imposed a curfew in affected areas.The fighting took place in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous, as well as Homs, about 40 kilometers from Lebanon's Hermel, where deadly clashes in February pitted Lebanese Shiite clans against soldiers of the new Syrian regime.‘Heavy gunfire’Tension escalated at the border from Thursday to Friday night. Gunfire and explosions from Syria were heard in several villages in the Bekaa and Hermel regions near...
The villages of Hermel, bordering Syria, hold their breath once more as western Syria has been rocked for two days by fighting of unprecedented violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Dec. 8, 2024. These clashes have resulted in more than 140 deaths among militias loyal to the former Assad regime and the new security forces, who are conducting combing operations and have imposed a curfew in affected areas.The fighting took place in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous, as well as Homs, about 40 kilometers from Lebanon's Hermel, where deadly clashes in February pitted Lebanese Shiite clans against soldiers of the new Syrian regime.‘Heavy gunfire’Tension escalated at the border from Thursday to Friday night. Gunfire and explosions from Syria were heard in several villages in the Bekaa and Hermel regions...