Army Shells Militant Posts in Arsal Outskirts amid IS-Nusra Clashes
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Lebanese army pounded with heavy artillery the posts of militants on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, as clashes between militant groups of the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front intensified early on Saturday, the National News Agency reported.
NNA said violent clashes erupted between al-Nusra and IS extremists after the latter waged a dawn attack at Nusra positions in Shmais al-Ajram, Kherbet Daoud, al-Shahout Serj al-Nammoura, al-Malahi, al-Ajram and Kherbet Younin in the outskirts of Arsal.
Several casualties on both sides were reported amid a state of chaos that overwhelmed citizens in the Wadi Hmeid camp, it added.
According to military sources, the army targeted the militants' posts in the outskirts, killing and wounding around 24 jihadists.
LBCI reported that heavy armed clashes erupted early on Saturday between militants from the Islamic State group and Fatah al-Sham in Wadi Hmeid in Arsal.
VDL (93.3) quoted an unnamed security source as saying that “members from the IS group waged a wide attack against Fatah el-Sham positions in the outskirts of Arsal.”
Militants from the IS and al-Nusra Front, which rebranded itself as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham when it split from the al-Qaida movement, are entrenched in rugged areas along the undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border.
The army regularly shells their posts while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border.
The two groups briefly overran the town of Arsal in August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles.
The retreating militants abducted more than 30 troops and policemen of whom four have been executed and nine remain in the captivity of the IS group.
27 May 2017, 11:54
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Lebanese Forces use the Qatari fire control system pioneered by The Emir's Own First Grad Missile Volunteer Brigade in Libya, known as "Tweet and Shoot". Earlier forms of artillery fire control have required complex measurements of the tube's position on the earth's surface, the target's position on the earth's surface, the distance between, the propellant required for that distance and the intended projectile, the deflection and elevation of the tube to achieve that flight of the projectile, and so on. The new system, which only works well if news cameras are rolling, simply requires the gunners to "Tweet and Shoot", and every shot is a killer, by definition. A key element in the system is a rigorous system of damage estimates prepared in advance. "Second-guessing ourselves won't get us to Damascus," says The Emir's Own commander, Flight Lieutenant Julio "Ralph" al Thani IV, during a recent ski holiday in Switzerland. (All skiing was done by English surrogates.)
