Military Source Denies Presence of British Troops in Lebanon
A high-ranking military source denied on Tuesday that British troops are present in Lebanon to monitor the country's border with Syria to prevent fighters from the Islamic State group to infiltrate into the small Christian town of Ras Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa.
The source stressed in comments to al-Joumhouria newspaper that the a report published on Sunday in the British Telegraph is “no secret.”
The Telegraph reported that a British team has secretly saved Ras Baalbek from advancing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces by constructing a network of watchtowers.
The source said that the British team only helped the Lebanese army in building 12 towers to facilitate the monitoring of the border and combat terrorism.
However, the source stressed that “there are no British forces in Lebanon,” pointing out that “only British technical teams are present to aid in constructing the towers.”
The source presumed that the report aims at convincing the British public opinion that their country “is still strong in the Middle East and its army is distributed across the world, but it doesn't mean they are present inside Lebanon.”
The towers were built in 17 days in July and finished less than two weeks ago, the Telegraph said.
The army and security forces had been carrying out in recent months raids in various regions throughout Lebanon in search for wanted fugitives and suspected terrorists.
Jihadists from the IS group and al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August. The Islamists withdrew from the town, abducting a number of troops and security forces.
Three hostages have already been killed by their captors, and the country has been on edge for months over the fate of the remaining soldiers and policemen.
Lebanon is deeply divided over the war in Syria.
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