Hezbollah Says it Will Step up Presence in Syria as Needed

Hezbollah is fighting across all of Syria alongside the army of President Bashar al-Assad and is willing to increase its presence there when needed, the leader of the Lebanese Shi'ite movement said on Sunday. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told thousands of supporters via video link that the fight was part of a wider strategy to prevent groups like al Qaeda's wing in Syria, Nusra Front, and the ultra-hardline Islamic State from taking over the region. We will be everywhere in Syria," he said during a celebration to mark the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from south Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is a staunch ally of Assad in the four-year-long Syrian civil war.