Lebanon's Hezbollah group says it has struck a group of al-Qaida militants near the border with Syria with the help of a drone for the first time.
The Shiite group's Al-Manar satellite television channel said the "qualitative operation" was carried out Wednesday against a group of Nusra Front militants in Syria's Qalamoun region.
The group has been fighting alongside Syrian government forces in the region to dislodge Sunni extremists entrenched there.
Al-Manar said the group had been planning to carry out a terrorist operation inside Lebanon. It added that the drone pinpointed the location of the group who were then ambushed by Hezbollah.
The operation comes a day after a high-ranking Hezbollah field commander, Ghassan Faqih, was killed along with several other fighters in clashes in the area.
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