Kaag Visits Ras Baalbek, Hails Army's Anti-Terror Efforts

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag visited Monday the Bekaa border town of Ras Baalbek and praised the Lebanese army's efforts to repel attacks by Syria-based jihadist groups.

“We commend the achievements of the Lebanese army and security forces in the face of the challenges facing the country,” said Kaag after meeting with representatives of the army in Ras Baalbek.

The U.N. official also made site visits, according to a statement issued by her office.

Earlier, Kaag met with Ras Baalbek's municipal chief and other local representatives to discuss "the situation along Lebanon's eastern border as well as the socio-economic challenges faced by residents and local municipalities."

She also discussed with U.N. agencies and partners "the situation of Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities in the area."

Eight soldiers were killed in January as the army repelled a jihadist attack on a military surveillance post in Ras Baalbek. Scores of gunmen were killed and wounded in the clashes, according to an army statement.

In late February, the army waged a preemptive attack in the town's outskirts and seized control of strategic hilltops, inflicting heavy losses among the ranks of the militants.

Jihadists from the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front are entrenched on the outskirts of Lebanese towns on the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.

They stormed the border town of Arsal in August 2014 and engaged in deadly battles with the Lebanese army before they retreated under a ceasefire mediated by Lebanese Muslim clerics.

Y.R.