FSA says eight Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria

At least eight Hezbollah fighters were killed on Tuesday in fighting against Syrian rebels near Damascus, Free Syrian Army chief of staff Salim Idriss told Al Arabiya.

In southern Lebanon, thousands of Hezbollah supporters held funerals for two fighters who were killed while fighting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army in Syria.

Hezbollah’s army is reportedly fighting in various fronts across Syria, including areas of Homs, Aleppo and Damascus in addition to the areas bordering Lebanon.

On Tuesday, the United States reiterated its condemnation of Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria.

“We are deeply concerned by the continued fighting in Qusair and condemn the indiscriminate killing of civilians by Assad’s forces and his proxies, including Hezbollah fighters,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

The United States and Russia have pledged to work in tandem to seek to bring the Syrian regime and the opposition together and try to negotiate a political transition to end the war that has left some 94,000 dead.

The initial plan for the talks to be held early this month -- to build on an accord signed in Geneva on June 30 -- has now slipped into July, amid wrangling over the exact guest list and agenda.

The Syrian opposition has said they would not attend as long as fighters from Iran and the Islamist-militia Hezbollah are fighting in Syria alongside the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.