Updated

Hezbollah's leader says the Lebanese militant group will keep fighting in Syria "wherever needed."

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah says he has made a "calculated" decision to defend Syria and is ready to bear all consequences.

His comments in a speech to supporters in southern Beirut Friday suggest the Iranian-backed group will carry on fighting beyond Syria's central Homs province where his fighters recently helped President Bashar Assad's regime recapture a key town from rebels.

Nasrallah says verbal and other attacks against his militant group "only serve to increase our determination."