An image grab taken from Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV yesterday shows Nasrallah speaking during an interview.

Reuters
Beirut


Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah yesterday welcomed Russia’s military build-up in Syria in support of common ally President Bashar al-Assad, saying it was the failure of a US-led campaign against Islamic State that had forced Moscow’s hand.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with the group’s Al Manar TV that increased Russian support for Assad included highly advanced weapons systems, warplanes and helicopters.
He also confirmed that a localised ceasefire agreement had been struck in two areas of Syria, where Hezbollah is fighting alongside government forces against an array of insurgent groups including IS and Al Qaeda.
Nasrallah, in a wide-ranging interview that was his first media appearance since Russia’s recent military build-up hit headlines, said Washington’s own campaign against IS had failed, “(President Barack) Obama’s strategy in confronting Daesh and terrorism has failed,” he said, using an acronym for IS.
He said that relying solely on air strikes would not defeat the militants and that US efforts to recruit and train so-called moderate Syrian rebels to fight on the ground were evidence of a “devastating failure” by its anti-IS coalition.
It was this failure that had prompted Russia to step up military aid to Damascus, he said, after Moscow sent Assad hardware including fighter jets and personnel which it has described as “experts”.
“We welcome any force which intervenes and supports the front in Syria, because through its participation, it will contribute to pushing away the major dangers that are threatening Syria and the region,” Nasrallah said.