Report: Contacts Underway for 'International Air Cover' for Military
Contacts with US and Russian sides, with regard to the situation on the Lebanese border, are underway to pave the way for the “international coalition to provide an air cover for the Lebanese army's upcoming battle against the Islamic State group” on the outskirts of the border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.
“Contacts with the Russians and Americans, with regard to the situation on the Lebanese border, are underway in a bid to make Moscow pressure its allies in Syria and Iran and make the Syrian regime and Hizbullah accept that the international coalition provides an air coverage for the Lebanese army's battle against the IS,” reported the daily.
“This explains the delay in the army's operation,” added the daily, “however, an approval has not been confirmed yet.”
Meanwhile, reports that some US special forces are already in Lebanon to assist the army in its mission, according to the daily.
A senior military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the reports were “inaccurate,” adding that “US elements in Lebanon are not combat teams but training and follow-up teams.”
The army is reportedly preparing an operation aimed at eradicating IS militants from the outskirts of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek.
On Thursday, the army fired artillery rounds at Islamic State group posts in the outskirts of the eastern border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek, inflicting casualties and destroying a number of sites, state-run National News Agency reported.
The shelling continued for several hours throughout Thursday.
Army units meanwhile continued their deployment in the outskirts of the nearby border town of Arsal, seizing control of posts abandoned by the jihadist al-Nusra Front group.
Al-Nusra was ousted from the region in a Hizbullah offensive that ended with an evacuation deal.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/233737 |