Hezbollah has used drones for the first time to attack ISIS positions, bunkers, and fortifications in the Western Qalamoun area near the border with Lebanon.

Video footage of the attack was released by its Al-Mayadeen media network on Monday afternoon.

Hezbollah says this is the first time it has used drones in this way, but last year it released video footage of what it claimed was a drone dropping bombs near Aleppo.

Israeli security analyst Alon Ben-David told Channel 10 News that while the Iranian made drone is not the most advanced drone Hezbollah has in its arsenal, this strike represents a first step towards building a significant military force with aerial attack capabilities.

Israel would have to cope with this advanced air capability in any future conflict with Hezbollah, and is concerned that it would also face threats from Iran and Shia militias from both Lebanon and Syria.

Highlighting this increased level of coordination, the Syrian army and Hezbollah launched a simultaneous offensive against ISIS from the Syrian side of the border, in the Qalamoun mountain range on Saturday. The Lebanese army also conducted a military offensive against ISIS from the Lebanese side of the border at the same time.

While the Lebanese army stressed there was no coordination with Hezbollah, the head of the Arab media department at the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, Major Avichay Adraee, published a photo in which two tanks, one with a Lebanese flag and one with a Hezbollah flag, were seen participating next to each other in operations against ISIS on the Syrian-Lebanese border.

In related news, Maariv reported that IDF officials from the Northern Command have raised concerns about Israel’s eroding deterrence against Hezbollah.

(via BICOM)

[Photo: BICOM ]