The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Lebanese Army sustains casualties in clashes with militants near Syria border

BAALBEK, Lebanon: Lebanon’s Army commander Friday warned jihadis against tempering with the country’s stability as clashes continued between troops and Islamist militants near the northern Bekaa Valley border town of Ras Baalbek.

Security sources have given conflicting casualty tolls. The Army has acknowledged that a battle is taking place, but has so far kept mum on casualty figures.

“The Army is carrying out its duties to the fullest, and it is able to repel any attempt to infiltrate peaceful villages in the eastern Bekaa Valley or [those] tampering with the internal stability on all Lebanese territory,” Gen. Jean Kahwagi said in remarks to reporters from his office at the Defense Ministry in the Beirut suburb of Yarze.

Security sources told The Daily Star jihadis suffered at least nine casualties between killed and wounded in the fighting, which began around 8:15 a.m. and continued near Talet al-Hamra on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek.

They said two soldiers were also killed and seven wounded as fighting continued after soldiers repelled jihadis who tried to overrun a Lebanese Army post in Talet al-Hamra.

A security source cited by Reuters said at least three gunmen have been killed in the clashes that broke out after jihadis tried to infiltrate the town from its eastern outskirts.

The sound of intense rocket and artillery fire reverberated across the Baalbek region. The fighting had eased by midday with troops firing mortar shells toward the militants.

The sources said the Lebanese Army sent reinforcements to support troops on the frontline.

The Army confirmed in a statement that a military post on the far side of the outskirts of Ras Baalbek “came under an attack by a terrorist group.”

The statement said the Army repelled the attack, using various types of weapons.

It said the Army was shelling militants’ concentration centers and infiltration routes “with the appropriate weapons.”

Separately, a brief clash erupted overnight between militant groups themselves on the outskirts of the northern eastern border town of Arsal on the Syria border.

Local media reported the fight pitted ISIS militants against Liwaa al-Tawhid, an armed rebel Syrian group that was originally formed to coordinate the battle for Aleppo.

The Lebanese Army dismissed media reports that military outposts in Wadi Hmeid and Wadi Hosn on Arsal’s outskirts came under militant attacks.

 

THE DAILY STAR