Sixteen Hezbollah fighters were killed in a fierce offensive launched by rebel fighters in northern Syria, a security source told The Daily Star Saturday.
The 16 Hezbollah fighters, of Lebanese origin, are from the predominantly Shiite towns of Nubol and Zahraa that are located northwest of Aleppo.
However, the source added that Hezbollah fighters backed by Syrian army troops repelled the attack on the government-held village of Bashkoy, in the countryside of the northern city of Aleppo.
The Syrian military has, since mid-October, recaptured several areas in the north of the country from Islamist forces, including al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, al-Nusra Front.
It said Friday that it had fought its way close to the strategic, rebel-held Aleppo-Damascus highway - its latest gain in a major offensive supported by Iranian backed fighters and Russian air power.
The government troops have been trying to cut the road leading from Aleppo to the Turkish border, a key supply road for rebels, and to open the way to Nubol and Zahraa, which have been under militant siege for more than two years.
Aleppo province is almost entirely in the hands of al-Nusra Front and its Islamist allies, as well as ISIS [Daesh].
