LibriumArcana.Games

The Syrian army is planning to transfer 75 soviet T-55 and T-72 tanks to Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai has reported.

The tanks are intended to give Hezbollah the capability to build an armored brigade for its fight against Al Qaeda, the report said.

According to the paper, some 100 Iranian Special Forces soldiers and officers have arrived in Damascus in cooperation with Russian forces.

The move comes as Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Russia have launched a “joint operations room” to coordinate their campaign to defeat the extremist Islamic State group, the report noted.

Hezbollah has been fighting alongside Syrian regime forces against Sunni Islamist militant groups including the Islamic State group and Jabat al-Nusra.

Hezbollah said on Monday that it will no longer take part in fighting in Syria, Lebanon's Daily Star reported.

According to a diplomatic source, Hezbollah informed Syrian authorities that once the battle in the border town of Zabadani is over, Hezbollah's role in the fighting will end.

A ceasefire between Syrian pro-government forces and Islamist rebels was agreed to Sunday in three battleground districts, covering the two remaining villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province in the northwest still in government hands and the rebels' last stronghold near the Lebanese border, the town of Zabadani.

Some reports indicated that the 25-point ceasefire put into place was agreed upon by Jabat al-Nusra and Iran and included a stipulation where the Syrian regime would no longer fly helicopters or planes in the area, the end of blockades on dozens of Syrian towns as well as the release of 500 prisoners held by the Syrian regime.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday as part of an attempt to address Israel's concerns about confrontations that could possibly occur between Israeli troops and Russian forces active in Syria.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Netanyahu said that an unprecedented and crucial mechanism had been established to prevent such misunderstandings.

Netanyahu was accompanied on the trip by Gadi Eisenkot, the Israel Defense Forces' chief of staff, who met with his Russian counterpart Valery Grasimov, reportedly agreeing to form a joint committee to coordinate the two militaries' respectivw activities in the war-ravaged country, where Russia is supporting the embattled regime of President Bashar Assad.

"It was very important to come here in order to clarify our position and to do everything to avoid any misunderstandings between our forces," Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting.

Netanyahu said he was determined to stop arms deliveries to Hezbollah and accused Syria's army and Iran of trying to create a "second front" against Israel.

"I made it clear in no uncertain terms that we will not tolerate Iranian attempts to arm and organize activities against us on the Syrian border, and we will continue to take all steps against this threat to our security."

Putin for his part said Russia's actions in the Middle East "always were and will be very responsible" and downplayed the threat by Syrian forces to Israel.

"We know and understand that the Syrian army and Syria in general is in such a state that it isn't up to opening a second front -- it is trying to maintain its own statehood," he said in comments broadcast on Russian television.