Army Deploys Heavily in Arsal amid Popular Jubilation
The army deployed heavily on Thursday in the restive northeastern border town of Arsal and stepped its security measures, a move that was welcomed by the anxious residents.
Units from the army's Eighth Brigade “entered Arsal from Wadi Hmayyed and al-Masyadeh,” state-run National News Agency reported.
Troops “erected checkpoints inside the town and at the entrances of (Syrian refugee) encampments and staged mechanized patrols,” NNA said.
Jubilant residents “warmly welcomed” the soldiers and “threw rice on them,” the agency added.
The army's measures followed a cabinet session that tackled the issue of Arsal.
Media reports said earlier that the army bolstered its measures in Arsal to avert any possible attack by militants in the wake of battles in Syria's Qalamoun.
A military source stressed in remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper that the “precautions level up to the challenges.”
He denied that Hizbullah or any other faction passed through the areas that are under the army's control to reach the outskirts of Arsal.
“The battles are in Syria and not in zones under military control.”
Asked if Hizbullah could enforce security in Arsal if battles reached it, the source said that “the army is the only authority responsible for the security of the town and will not allow any side to assist it in the matter.”
“Only the army is safeguarding the sovereignty of its territories and implementing the cabinet's policy.”
Hizbullah backed by Syrian forces has recently controlled strategic areas in Qalamoun that abuts Lebanon's eastern border, amid continuing clashes in the region.
Hizbullah cites fear of militants from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front sweeping through Shiite and Christian border villages as one of the main reasons for its involvement in Syria.
Some observers however fear the Qalamoun offensive could prompt Islamist militants to launch attacks in Shiite areas of Lebanon itself, including Beirut's southern suburbs.
The IS and Nusra Front have infiltrated Lebanon in the past, and last August briefly overran Arsal, taking with them several soldiers and policemen hostage, four of whom have been executed.
A source close to the March 8 alliance stressed that Hizbullah “will not begin the Arsal battle but will not also remain mum over the state's failure to control border towns and their outskirts.”
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday hinted that his group would try and eliminate the militants of the IS and al-Nusra from Arsal's outskirts if the Lebanese state failed to do so.
Citing remarks by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq who said that Arsal is “occupied” by militant groups, Nasrallah called on the Lebanese state to protect the town and “regain” it from their hands.
“The vast majority in Arsal are feeling the heavy burden of the militant groups and we are ready to stand by Arsal's people, but the state must shoulder its responsibility,” Nasrallah added.
He vowed, however, that “our people in Baalbek and Hermel” will not tolerate “the presence of a single terrorist in the outskirts of Arsal and the Bekaa.”
Y.R./H.K.
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