Elite Hezbollah Fighters Sent to Syria

Will lead assault on rebel stronghold

DAMASCUS: Elite Hezbollah fighters poured across the border from Lebanon into Syria to lead a withering assault by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on the rebel stronghold of Qusair on Tuesday, activists reported.

In a separate escalation, Israeli and Syrian forces traded fire across the Golan Heights, with the Syrian army claiming it destroyed an Israeli military vehicle that crossed the armistice line.

The developments came after US President Barack Obama expressed concerns to Beirut about Hezbollah's growing role in the conflict, and the State Department warned of the conflict spilling across the region.