Hizbullah Says Arsal Attack Highlights 'Foreign-backed Threat Looming over Lebanon'
Hizbullah on Sunday noted that the militant assault on the Bekaa border town of Arsal enjoys “a foreign cover and domestic rationalization,” warning that it highlights “the threat looming over Lebanon.”
“The continued crimes that are being committed by organized terrorist groups, which enjoy a foreign cover and domestic rationalization, are indicative of the threat looming over Lebanon and all its people, without any differentiation between one region and another or one sect and another,” the party said in a statement addressing the situation in Arsal.
It urged all Lebanese to close ranks to confront terrorism and to avoid “finding excuses or justifications for these terrorist groups.”
“The firmness shown by the Army Command in confronting the assault on its checkpoints and posts in Arsal's outskirts is a stance that deserves utmost appreciation and support,” Hizbullah added, urging citizens to “embrace and stand by their military institution.”
And as it expressed its support for “all the steps that the army is taking,” the party underlined that it "stands shoulder-to-shoulder with this institution in the face of the threats looming over our country.”
Fierce clashes between the army and armed groups in the eastern border region of Arsal continued into a second day on Sunday as troops sought to regain control of areas seized by the gunmen.
Ten soldiers have been killed and 25 others wounded since the eruption of clashes on Saturday, Army chief General Jean Qahwaji announced on Sunday, as he revealed that 13 troops have gone missing and are “possibly being held prisoner.”
The fighting has also left at least three civilians dead in Arsal.
Clashes started when masked Syrian gunmen infiltrated Lebanon's Arsal after news broke out about the arrest of top militant Imad Ahmed Jomaa.
The infiltrators surrounded army checkpoints and targeted military posts with gunfire, while others stormed an Internal Security Forces post and took policemen hostage.
Hizbullah itself has been engaged since weeks in heavy fighting with gunmen positioned between Arsal and the Syrian region of Qalamun.
Tensions skyrocketed in the area earlier this year with a major influx of refugees and fighters after Syrian forces backed by Hizbullah recaptured most of Qalamun.
Despite the Syrian regime's advances, pockets of opposition forces, including jihadists from al-Nusra and the Islamic State group, remain in the area.
Y.R.
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