Army Battles Militants in Arsal's Outskirts
The Lebanese army engaged on Thursday in clashes with militants on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency reported.
NNA said the military targeted the fighters with mortars in the area of Wadi Ata.
The gunmen from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front have established footholds in remote mountains along Lebanon's remote eastern border.
Their threat first came to Lebanon in August, two months after the group's summer blitz in which it seized large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria.
In a surprise attack, the militants crossed over from Syria and overran the border town of Arsal, hitting Lebanese army positions and killing and injuring scores of soldiers.
After weeklong clashes, the militants pulled back to mountain caves near Syria's border, taking more Lebanese soldiers and policemen with them.
The fighters have since executed four of the servicemen.
Meanwhile, LBCI TV said IS gunmen and Free Syrian Army rebels engaged in battles on Arsal's outskirts on Wednesday.
Twenty people, including an FSA official, were killed in the clashes that concentrated in the area of Wadi Mira, it added.
G.K.
D.A.
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