Report: Militants Killed in Hizbullah Ambush on Outskirts of Arsal
A group of jihadists affiliated to al-Nusra Front were killed Wednesday in an ambush conducted by Hizbullah in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal.
The group was allegedly spotted with surveillance drones that were overflying the outskirts of Arsal and Nahle, Hizbullah's mouthpiece al-Manar said.
The TV station reported that the group was seeking to carry out a terror act in al-Kasarat area, south of Arsal.
An al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front field commander was killed in the ambush and a military vehicle was destroyed.
In the past weeks, Hizbullah said it has secured around a third of the Qalamoun region, on both the Lebanese and Syrian sides of the porous border.
The area of roughly 1,000 square kilometers is a landscape of imposing hillsides riddled with caves, and open valleys full of scrub and wildflowers.
The fate of Qalamoun is particularly important for Hizbullah, which has long defended its intervention in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's troops as key to the security of Lebanon.
Hizbullah cites that fear of militants from the Islamic State group and al-Nusra Front sweeping through Shiite and Christian villages in diverse Lebanon as one of the main reasons for their 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.
H.K.
G.K.
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