Report: Security Measures Boosted in Dahiyeh amid Fears of Terror Attacks

Lebanese security forces reportedly bolstered their measures in Beirut's southern suburbs after obtaining information on a possible terror attack in the area.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Saturday, Dahiyeh hasn't witnessed such measures in a year as security members are thoroughly inspecting vehicles and passers-by.

Strict measures have included the depth of Hizbullah's stronghold after Lebanese security agencies obtained information that dormant cells are seeking to carry out terror acts in the area.

The report comes as fighting intensified in the past week in the mountainous Qalamoun region across the border from Lebanon, where Hizbullah fighters along side Syrian forces engaged in battles with jihadists from the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, who are entrenched on the porous border between Lebanon and Syria.

Hizbullah and Syrian government troops took control of areas near the border town of Assal al-Ward Thursday.

Hizbullah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech late Tuesday that his group will attack militants in Qalamoun, stressing that "time will tell" when the battle will become full blown.

He added that there will be no formal announcement before the widely anticipated battle begins.

Nasrallah vowed that his group will continue fighting in Syria along with President Bashar Assad's forces.

The IS, which controls several areas in Syria and Iraq, aims to spread to Lebanon as its fighters position in the outskirts of Bekaa towns bordering Syria and the Lebanese army is in adamant efforts to stop their efforts to infiltrate the country.

Despite ideological similarities, the two groups are opposed and in conflict with each other in other parts of Syria, particularly in the north.

Hizbullah has been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces against predominantly Sunni rebels and militants seeking to topple him.

H.K.

D.A.