BEIRUT: Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate the Nusra Front rejected an offer to treat one of its fighters at a hospital inside Lebanon in exchange for the release of three Lebanese captives being held by the jihadists, a commander said Monday.
In comments to Anadulo News Agency, a Nusra commander said the group had asked General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim via a mediator to treat a fighter wounded during Sunday's fierce border clashes with Hezbollah in a Lebanese hospital.
“We tried to move him to Arsal but the Lebanese Army checkpoint prevented us. We communicated with Abbas Ibrahim who demanded the release of three captive soldiers so he would allow us to transfer [the fighter] to Arsal for treatment,” the unnamed commander told the Turkish agency.
“We rejected that and informed him that we did not want to launch a battle against them, but his answer was that he would prevent us from transferring any wounded.”
Nusra and ISIS are holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen who were taken hostage during a five-day battle in August between the jihadists and the Army.
The Nusra commander also spoke about the clashes with Hezbollah near the Lebanese border village of Brital Sunday, saying the group attacked Hezbollah posts as a preemptive strike.
The commander said the group had received information that Hezbollah was beefing up several positions and had been preparing an attack in coordination with the Lebanese and Syrian armies.
“We prepared ourselves and as soon as knew Hezbollah fighters were infiltrating Nahleh's outskirts, we attacked them and ambushed them,” he said.
Hezbollah sources told The Daily Star Sunday that the Nusra Front attacked two posts on the border with Syria near the Lebanese villages of Brital and Nahleh. At least eight Hezbollah fighters and 14 militants were killed in the clashes that ensued.
He denied Hezbollah had taken any Nusra fighter captive as claimed by the group and said only one fighter was killed in the clashes.
“What happened yesterday was a warning message to Hezbollah ... If we wanted to continue the battle, we could have attacked Brital.”
“We found American-made weapons still in their wrapping including a rocket launcher. Where did the party of Iran get such weapons from?”
The commander also gave contradicting comments about where the clashes took place, while Hezbollah maintained that the battle erupted inside Syria, on the edge of Lebanon's border.
At one point, the commander said the clashes took place on the outskirts of Nahleh and Brital. Later in the interview, the man said Nusra fighters did not infiltrate Lebanese territory.
“But there was a military position for Hezbollah, which we overran, and then we withdrew.”
Meanwhile, Nusra Front released what it claimed was footage from the battle with Hezbollah, showing jihadists firing mortar rounds at Hezbollah positions.
The video also shows Nusra fighters in military gear heading towards the post with a man's voice occassionaly yelling out "God is great."
The camera man later films a makeshift shelter he claimed belonged to Hezbollah.
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