Security Forces Kickstart Beirut, Dahiyeh Security Plan
The army and Internal Security Forces took into force a security plan in Beirut and its southern suburbs to apprehend outlaws, the military announced in a statement on Tuesday.
The plan will last several days and include holding numerous stationary and temporary checkpoints.
The forces will inspect the identification cards of pedestrians and deploy patrols in the area.
They will also carry out raids in search of wanted suspects.
The army called on the citizens to comply with the security measures “in order preserve their safety and ensure that their daily routines are not interrupted.”
It also urged them to report any suspicious activity or security incident they may encounter.
The security plan, which includes Hizbullah's stronghold of Dahiyeh, is reportedly widely supported by the party and its Shiite ally AMAL movement.
However, the early announcement of the plan granted offenders time to evade security forces and flee to unknown whereabouts, similarly to the plan implemented in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Prominent offenders fled the Bekaa after security forces announced the zero-hour of the plan, which kicked off in February and dozens of wanted suspects have since been arrested.
A similar plan was adopted by the government in 2014 and implemented in the northern city of Tripoli.
Sources close to Hizbullah said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper Tuesday that “the residents of Dahiyeh and the parties in the area staunchly support the enforcement of such a plan.”
The sources said that the plan seeks to fortify security in Beirut's southern suburbs, stressing that the state has a significant presence in the area, citing the various checkpoints erected by the army, Internal Security Forces and the General Security.
“Beirut and Dahiyeh shouldn't be excluded from the security plans implemented across Lebanon.”
The sources denied that the “Bekaa security plan failed,” noting that several outlaws were detained and the crime rate decreased.
H.K./M.T.
Source: Agence France Presse
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