Report: Hizbullah to Facilitate Implementation of Security Plan in North Bekaa

Lebanese security forces will strictly implement a security plan established for north Bekaa in cooperation with Hizbullah, media reports said on Wednesday.

As Safir newspaper reported that the recent security incidents across Lebanon prompted officials to decide to crack down on violators in the Bekaa to redeem the state's authority and credibility.

The newspaper reported that Hizbullah that is strongly present in north Bekaa expressed its readiness to facilitate any security measures endorsed by the state to end violations in the area.

“There is no political obstacle that prevents the state from controlling the area,” Hizbullah sources told As Safir.

The daily also quoted the sources as saying that Hizbullah will not pursue wanted suspects “as the state has to assume its responsibilities.”

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq told the newspaper that the Central Security Council discussed during Tuesday's meeting the measures that will be implemented in the Bekaa to maintain stability.

The minister said that an agreement was reached by all the political powers to carry out strict security measures in the Bekaa, refusing to reveal the zero-hour for the operation.

A source told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday that the operation in the Bekaa will kick off soon.

A military source told the daily that the army's measures in the Bekaa began when the security plan kicked off recently and the army is combating the lawlessness and carrying out raids to bust terrorist cells, drug dealers and theft gangs.

“The army is heavily deployed in the Bekaa and isn't slouching in its measures.”

The source told al-Joumhouria that the military will not recall new brigades to the area as the security plan hasn't been modified, pointing out that the army is ready to execute any new plan by the state.

Increasing crime, thefts and abductions in the Bekaa have intensified although the state institutions have launched a number of campaigns to combat the trend.

The army launched a crackdown on assailants in Beirut's southern suburbs and several other areas in an attempt to halt security chaos across the country.

Security violations have been increasing recently in Lebanon amid a rise in attacks by jihadists and Islamist militants in the country, most recently when nine people were killed and more than 37 injured after a double suicide bombing in Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen.

H.K.

G.K.