Report: Christians in Bekaa Take Up Arms as Cautious Calm Prevails in Ras Baalbek
Christians in the Bekaa Valley are reportedly taking up arms to combat any attack by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as cautious calm prevailed in Ras Baalbek region in eastern Lebanon after deadly clashes between the Lebanese army and militiamen.
Ad Diya newspaper reported on Sunday that Christians in the Bekaa Valley began purchasing personal arms, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades to combat any threats imposed by jihadists.
The daily said that residents are also carrying out night watches around Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, estimating that 200 people took up arms, forming a second defense line to support the army.
Eight Lebanese troops were killed and several others were wounded in bloody clashes that erupted between the army and gunmen in the Tallat al-Hamra clashes on Friday, “when terrorists attacked a military surveillance post in Ras Baalbek.”
According to An Nahar newspaper, cautious calm prevailed on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek on Sunday although the army regained its complete control on Tallat al-Hamra post and repelled the terror attack.
The daily said that the area turned into an “open frontier.”
A military source denied in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that a supply line for the armed groups was established in Ras Baalbek or any other area along the Lebanese border.
“We will not allow the establishment of any supply line,” the source stressed, pointing out that the army in Tallah al-Hamra hit with an iron fist and didn't back down.
“They are assaulting Lebanese soil and it's our duty to defend it.”
The army had held the funerals of several of its victims on Saturday.
The border clash was the latest violence between the Lebanese military and militants on the border with Syria.
Syria's civil war has regularly spilled into Lebanon, with jihadists briefly overrunning the eastern Lebanese town of Arsal in August after running gun battles with the army.
The jihadists withdrew after a ceasefire, but took with them several dozen hostages from the Lebanese army and police, four of whom have since been executed.
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