US provided ISIL terrorists with full air cover in Bukamal

 The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says despite the US claims about fighting terrorism, it spared no effort to help ISIL forces in the Syrian town of al-Bukamal.   The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered televised speech on situation in Lebanon and across the Middle East region, November 20, 2017.  Nasrallah noted that recapturing Bukamal was a major victory over ISIL, because Bukamal was the last Syrian city occupied by ISIL.   “The US helped ISIL as much as it could in Bukamal short of directly engaging forces that fought to liberate the town from ISIL,” the Hezbollah leader noted.  Nasrallah went on to note that the US provided ISIL terrorists with full air cover in Bukamal.  The US sent its drones to Bukamal and provided ISIL with accurate information about what was going on, Nasrallah said, adding that American forces also waged electronic warfare against forces that were fighting to liberate Bukamal.  American forces also provided air transfer for ISIL commanders and facilitated their escape to eastern shores of the Euphrates, he said. The Hezbollah leader stated that even Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the US for helping ISIL.  Nasrallah emphasized that recapturing Bukamal led to unity of Syria and ended ISIL's self-proclaimed state in the country.  Syrian army soldiers and their allies fully regain control over al-Bukamal city on the border with Iraq from ISIL Takfiri terrorists.   Following recent victories in Iraq and Syria, he added, the military structure of ISIL collapsed in the two countries and Iraqi forces have reached the Syrian border.  Hezbollah leader noted that the victory over ISIL was victory of Islamic values over terrorists’ savagery.   Nasrallah also highlighted the role played by Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani in anti-terror operations in both Iraq and Syria.   He noted that Soleimani was commanding anti-ISIL operations in the two countries at the frontline and was never a commander to issue orders from behind the lines.   Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah referred to the latest meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, who designated the Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist group, saying that this was not the first time that such accusations were leveled against Hezbollah.  Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Aboul Gheit announced at a press conference in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sunday that Arab states had agreed to designate Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement a “terrorist organization.”   The Arab League’s extraordinary general meeting on Sunday was held at the request of Saudi Arabia, which has assumed an aggressive stance against Hezbollah for its alleged links to Iran, Riyadh’s powerful rival in the region. Riyadh associates Hezbollah with Iran and has been trying to weaken the resistance movement, which is Lebanon's de facto deterrent force against Tel Aviv.   In its concluding resolution, the Arab League announced that Arab foreign ministers, excluding those of Lebanon and Iraq, would hold Hezbollah responsible for supporting “terrorist groups” across the region.   Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil says he refused to list Hezbollah as a terror group as it is a “fundamental component of the Lebanese state.”   Nasrallah said the Arab League statement has labeled Hezbollah’s council, which is part of the Lebanon’s government, as a terrorist outfit, alleging that it provides missiles to terrorist groups in the region.   He added that accusations about Hezbollah sending missiles to regional countries were false and undocumented, emphasizing that the group has never sent any missiles or even light weapons to Kuwait, Yemen, Iraq or Bahrain or any other country in the region.   The leader of Hezbollah went on to say that the Arab League has warned Lebanon that if Hezbollah is not disarmed, security of the country would be in jeopardy.   Hezbollah rejected the accusation, noting that the main threat to security of Lebanon was the Zionist regime of Israel.   He added that the resistance front’s weapons were the main factor restoring security and stability to Lebanon, because they were used for defensive purposes in the face of the Israeli aggression.   Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah’s weapons were used only against terrorist groups such as ISIL and posed no threat to security of Lebanon.   A United Nations Security Council-appointed panel says it has seen no evidence to support Saudi Arabia’s claims that missiles have been transferred to Yemen’s Houthis by external sources.   Nasrallah stated that the main reason behind the recent Arab League meeting was not to discuss the issue of Palestine or other problems facing the Islamic world, but its main reason was the recent missile attack against a Saudi airport near the country’s capital, Riyadh.   Refusing Saudi Arabia and Arab League’s claims that the missile was provided to Yemeni Ansarullah fighters by Iran or the Lebanese Hezbollah, Nasrallah said Iran or Hezbollah had not sent any missiles to Yemen and Yemeni forces made their own missiles in the country.   He categorically rejected Arab League’s claims in this regard, noting that Saudi Arabia and its allies must admit that they have been defeated by Yemeni forces in their war of aggression against the country.   Nasrallah emphasized that Arab countries must put an immediate end to their support for terror groups, and do not fill the Middle East region with such outfits.   He reiterated that no member of Hezbollah was involved in the November 5 Yemeni missile strike against King Khalid International Airport of Riyadh.   The Hezbollah leader then took the Arab League to task for failing to address Saudi Arabia’s devastating aerial bombardment of the “Arab country of Yemen,” saying, “Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni people day and night.”   Stephen Anderson, the head of the World Food Program, on Monday described as "heartbreaking" the fact that millions in Yemen depend on sustained access to humanitarian assistance.   Strongly denouncing the Riyadh regime over perpetrating outrageous atrocities against millions of “Arab Muslims” in Yemen, Nasrallah lashed out at the Arab world’s “defeating silence” over the grim situation in Yemen.   “The turmoil we are witnessing in the Arab world is a cover for the announcement of normalization of relations with Israel,” he commented.  Nasrallah then called on Arabs to do their best to maintain their national unity in the face of all divisive efforts.  The Hezbollah secretary general also praised Lebanese officials and politicians for their firm stance regarding Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s shock resignation, calling on him to return to Lebanon as soon as possible.