Army Taking Necessary Measures in Arsal to Avert Militant Attacks
The Army Command is studying cabinet decision to take all necessary measures to deploy inside the northeastern border town of Arsal to fend off any assault by militants who are entrenched on the mountainous area along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
“The army is proceeding with its deployment in Arsal, Ras Baalbek and the areas of engagement,” a high-ranking military source said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.
The source pointed out that the army command is mulling all possibility, hailing the government's decision.
The source said that the military “has been left with a wide margin of independence in securing the situation in Arsal and tightening the noose on militants on its outskirts,” pointing out that the land between Lebanon and Syria is poorly demarcated.
“The army is evaluating its capabilities... to take the necessary decision,” it said, noting that the military will not be dragged into an uncertain war.
“Arsal didn't turn into a military zone and an emergency state hasn't been declared... we are acting according to the country's high interest.”
On Thursday, the cabinet tasked the military“with taking all necessary measures to deploy inside Arsal and protect it from attacks and the dangers of armed men.”
Military sources also said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the Lebanese Army is reevaluating its strategies in the north Bekaa Valley.
The army command modified its positions in north Bekaa, the number of soldiers deployed and the quality of weaponry used, a.
“Brigades in Arsal were fortified,” the sources stressed, saying that all the army posts in the area have been secured.
Hizbullah, fighting in Syria to support the ruling regime, tightened the noose around the last remaining jihadist pockets along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group briefly overran Arsal last August, and are still holding 25 soldiers and policemen hostage.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had pledged to clear the town's outskirts of jihadists, saying in a televised speech on May 24 that "the whole Lebanese border is now outside the control of armed men, except the area around Arsal".
However, the army declined to comment on Hizbullah's operations.
Last week, the army intensified its patrols in Arsal "to prevent any attack on the area.”
Hizbullah, which has said it wants to protect Lebanon "from the jihadist menace", has been fighting in Syria on behalf of President Bashar Assad's regime for more than two years.
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