Lebanon’s army has pledged to counter Syria-based Takfiri terrorists threatening to infiltrate and destabilize the country as armed forces prepare for potential militant counterattacks in response to their expulsion from key positions.
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The Friday remarks by Lebanese army commander General Jean Kahwagi came a day after ISIL-linked militants were flushed out in a pre-emptive strike by the army troops from two strategic hilltop outposts in the countryside area of northeastern town of Ras Baalbek, Lebanese news outlet Daily Star reported Saturday.
The army operations were aimed at purging the intruding armed elements holed up near the Syrian border.
“The army has no choice but to win over terrorism,” said Kahwagi while inspecting Lebanese military units stationed in Ras Baalbek, where he was briefed by officers on the field measures adopted following the swift operation against the militants on Thursday.
Kahwagi was accompanied by Lebanon’s Defense Minister Samir Moqbel in his Friday tour of Ras Baalbek in what was viewed as morale-boosting effort for the army soldiers deployed around the mainly Christian town and other areas near the border with Syria.
“The qualitative military operation, which was carried out yesterday [Thursday] and was crowned with great success, reflected the army’s firm decision to fight terrorism and ward off its danger from citizens,” Kahwagi said.
Meanwhile, a military official was also cited in the report as saying that the Lebanese army sporadically pounded terrorist hideouts on the northeastern border with Syria on Friday using rockets and artillery fire a day after the troops killed at least three suspected ISIL terrorists in an operation in the Ras Baalbek countryside.
The army’s policy of pre-emptive shelling was enforced after eight soldiers, including an officer, were killed and 22 others were wounded in fierce clashes with ISIL Takfiri militants on the outer edge of Ras Baalbek in January.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk was also cited in the report as saying that the security situation in the country was under control despite the growing threats posed by the ISIL and the al-Nusra Front Takfiri militants, which are still holding 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.
Lebanon is suffering from the spillover of militancy in neighboring Syria where foreign-backed militants are fighting the government forces. /SR
