'22 Hezbollah fighters killed' in Syria's Qusayr

BAALBEK: Twenty-two Hezbollah members were killed in fighting alongside Syrian government forces against rebels for control of the town of Qusayr, a source close to Lebanon's movement said on Sunday.

"There were 22 killed on Saturday. Nine bodies were repatriated the same day and the rest on Sunday," the source said, declining to be named.

The Syrian army announced that on Saturday its forces had infiltrated Dabaa military airport, a rebel post north of Qusayr, a week into a Hezbollah-backed offensive to recapture the strategic central town near the Lebanese border.

"Fighting is taking place inside the airport after they broke the rebel defence lines," an army source said.

The source close to Hezbollah said the militant group has now lost a total of almost 110 fighters since it joined the battle in Syria several months ago, with most of the deaths in and around Qusayr.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Hezbollah lost 10 fighters in Qusayr on Saturday, out of a total of 147 people killed in violence across Syria, including 79 rebels, 32 soldiers and 26 civilians