From the Qalamoun Mountains!
Habib Fayyad
The path to the barren lands in Lebanon's Eastern Mountain Chain is an arduous one; one accessible through a rough winding road that cuts the distance between [the geography of] Lebanon and its survival.
There are no signs of life along the path but for the momentum of the Resistance's combatants. They carry their gear on move on as they cross the bridge from their current life of impending danger, to a good life free of terrorism. Everything is imbued with silence thereat, with the exception of the eyes of these brave fighters, and the yellow flags mimicking the wind on top of the hills.
In those hills you see something that surpasses war and politics. You see land, man, and kind hearts. You also see something that surpasses national interest and the battle's requirements to the necessities of survival and existence.
The view from the heights of Qalamoun is different. From above everything seems small, and the details cease to exist when gazing upon the scene. The ruling equation there does not boil down to a combatant defending a people and country, rather a human being fighting off the evil of murder from humanity, with all of its values.
It is as if the hill of "Mtall el Hawa" in the Nahle barren lands looks upon two words. It is God's great land in Lebanon, so whichever you may turn there is the face of the Homeland. The wind on its peaks seeks shelter in its caves, and the Sun forever shines upon it. Nothing is higher than the land but these combatants. It is a barren land that births resistance, and holds much longing and martyrdom, enough to guarantee Lebanon's survival and Syria's steadfastness.
Looking towards the east, you observe the posts of the runaways of "al-Nusra", and you observe what is left of the battle for "Thallaja" hill, the militants' last fort. From its peaks, one looks towards an impending victory against "ISIL's" militants spread along the Qa' barren lands, to "Ras Baalbek", and up to the Syrian lands on the outskirts of the Homs semi-desert.
This hill that stands from its Northern side but a few hundred meters from the groves of Ersal, holds men that cannot be deterred from liberating the town's outskirts, so that it may form, along with the outskirts of Younin to the west, jaws that would trap the terrorist.
In "Mtall al-Hawa" lays a ceaseless effort. The resistance's preparations are endless. Preparations for the battle do not miss the smallest of details from A to Z: coordination and planning of all aspects, alongside fortifications, equipment, gear, surveillance, ammunition, food, and medical support, not to mention the availability of personnel.
These combatants fulfill their duties as if their prayers, and perform their Jihad as if giving alms. The resistance's commander in the region is a man of great fervor, extremely humble, and well informed.
With great finesse, he explains on the map, how Hizbullah's men advanced and how the militants were defeated. He asserts that the battle is ongoing until the whole of the Qalamoun and the rest of Lebanese barren lands are freed. He indicates the success of the resistance's men during the last battles in freeing more than 600 km of Syrian and Lebanese lands, and stresses that the battle will not cease until the militants are driven away of the rest of the 380 km of land they are occupying.
The defeat of the Takfiris is an inevitable fate, saying one resistance fighter in answering a question about the battle's future. What of the tiredness? He answers that a tired body receives strength from a calm soul.
As for his accomplishments: he "eliminated many terrorists". He did not kill them out of hate, but because "if we did not kill them, they would kill us". As for the love of the land he fights for, he says "Prayer here brings us closer to God... Here, the heavens descend to the earth."
Source: al-Ahed News, Translated and Edited by website team
