"(Reuters) - Along north Lebanon's highways, the portraits of Hezbollah militants who have died in skirmishes with Israel are fading. But there are glistening photos of those killed in Hezbollah's new fight.
These men died in Syria, battling alongside the army of Hezbollah's close ally President Bashar al-Assad against rebel units in a conflict which has killed more than 70,000 people and risks reigniting Lebanon's 15-year sectarian civil war.
The Shi'ite Muslim group, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, is the most effective military body in Lebanon and its growing involvement in Syria's quagmire has angered Lebanese Sunni rebel sympathizers.
The Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, famed for its colossal Roman ruins, now feels like a garrison town. Hezbollah men in military fatigues and police outfits are everywhere. As are Jeeps and Chevrolets with blacked-out windows - the group's vehicles of choice.
On Wednesday afternoon, machine gun fire rang out through Baalbek's narrow streets, signaling the arrival of another dead Hezbollah fighter from Syria, 12 km (7 miles) to the east.
Around 30 of his comrades quickly aligned in the street and straightened their green berets, readying themselves to carry the corpse on their shoulders.
"We have one or two of these funerals every day in Baalbek," said a young electronics shopkeeper, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.
A Hezbollah policeman in a polyester blue shirt told Reuters not to film the public funeral. "There are five or six Hezbollah martyrs every day from northern Lebanon," he said quietly, ushering the car away......."
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