Qahwaji Vows to Carry On Fierce War against Terrorism
Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji vowed on Saturday to continue his war on terror to prevent it from infiltrating into Lebanon.
“The challenges are enormous,” Qahwaji said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.
He expressed his admiration for the military's achievements on the security level, pointing out that the army intelligence is carrying out an “outstanding” work in revealing terror networks and cells.
Qahwaji stressed that “malicious enemy is not linked to any religion and only knows the language of blood.”
Terrorists are “waiting for the first chance to assault the county, but am not worried as the will of the troops in far more greater than their terrorism,” the high-ranking army official said.
He considered the military as the “country's safe haven and bulwark.”
“Our decision is to triumph and thwart the terrorists' attempts to alter Lebanon, wipe out its history and establish an Emirate on its ruins and the blood of its people.”
Qahwaji told soldiers that they are “the hope of the Lebanese. We are with you in the field against terrorists.”
Since the conflict in neighboring Syria broke out in 2011, Lebanon has faced mounting spill-over threats, first from the millions of refugees pouring across the border and increasingly from jihadists.
The Lebanese army is generally seen as a unifying force in Lebanon, and draws its ranks from all of the country's sects.
Asked about the case of abducted Lebanese servicemen, Qahwaji stressed that their freedom is a priority.
“The army will not rest before it frees the soldiers and return them to their parents.”
In August, extremists from Islamic State of Iraq Levant and al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front overran the northeastern border town of Arsal where they engaged in brief clashes with the army.
They withdrew from Arsal at the end of the fighting, but kidnapped a number of servicemen.
A few were released, four were executed, while the rest remain held.
The ISIL and al-Nusra Front want to exchange the captives with Islamist prisoners in Lebanon and Syria.
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