Lebanon army launches offensive against Daesh on Syria border

BEIRUT — Lebanese troops on Saturday launched an offensive against the Daesh terror group on the country's eastern border with Syria, seeking to drive the extremists from a long-time stronghold.

The operation came as Daesh faces multiple military attacks on territory it controls in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where it lost the city of Mosul in July.

Militants have long been active in mountainous eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria, where a bloody civil war has raged since 2011.

In 2014, extremists invaded the border town of Arsal, capturing 30 Lebanese soldiers and police. Security forces in the region have since come under regular attack.

"In the name of Lebanon, in the name of kidnapped Lebanese soldiers, in the name of martyrs of the army, I announce that operation 'Dawn of Jurud' has started," army chief General Joseph Aoun said Saturday.

He was referring to two mountainous border areas — Jurud Ras Baalbek and Jurud Al Qaa — where Daesh has been active.

"The army is confronting the Daesh terrorists to chase them out and recover territory," army spokesman General Ali Qanso said.

He said the campaign was “one of the most difficult battles waged by the Lebanese army”, but added: “We have no fear of Daesh.”

Kanso said the army believed there were around 600 Daesh extremists in the two areas, controlling some 120 square kilometres  of territory.

“For the first time, the army has made such use of its air capabilities,” he said, to target extremist hidden in a region full of mountains and cave hideouts.

The army’s operation comes after Lebanon’s powerful Shiite militant group Hizbollah launched its own campaign against extremists in another border area south of where the military is now operating.

The group’s six-day offensive against Daesh and Al Qaeda’s former affiliate in the Jurud Arsal area ended with a ceasefire.

The agreement saw around 8,000 refugees and extremists transported to a extremist-held area of northwestern Syria in return for the release of five captured Hizbollah fighters.

The evacuations were completed on Monday.

Simultaneous operations 

Hizbollah is deeply embroiled in the civil war that has raged in neighbouring Syria since 2011, fighting in support of President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The group said Saturday it had launched a simultaneous operation against Daesh from the Syrian side of the border, but Lebanon’s army spokesman denied there was any coordination.

Nine Lebanese soldiers captured in Arsal in 2014 are believed to remain in the hands of Daesh extremists.

Four were executed by their captors while a fifth died of his wounds. Sixteen were released in a prisoner swap in December 2015.

Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed earlier this month to clear the whole border area of extremists, saying it was in the interests of both Lebanon and Syria.

His powerful group is the one Lebanese party that did not turn over its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war, and its arsenal remains a source of division in Lebanon.

The last major battle fought by Lebanon’s army was the 2007 fight against extremists in the Palestinian Nahr Al Bared refugee camp.

The three-month battle left more than 400 dead, including 168 soldiers and 220 extremists.

Lebanon, a country of some four million people, hosts more than a million Syrian refugees, whose presence has caused tensions over limited resources.

Syria’s conflict has killed more than 330,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests.