Qahwaji Says al-Qaa Attack Won't Affect Army's Anti-Terror Resolve
Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji paid an inspection visit to the Bekaa border town of al-Qaa on Monday, in the wake of dawn suicide blasts that killed five civilians and wounded 15 people including army troops.
“Qahwaji inspected the scene of the suicide bombings and instructed the military units to boost their security measures at all border crossings and to pursue any suspected militants inside the country,” an army statement said.
The army chief later visited the municipality building where he met with Greek Catholic Archbishop of Baalbek Elias Rahal and several MPs and dignitaries from the region.
The commander “extended condolences to the families of the martyrs and wished speedy recovery for the wounded, hailing al-Qaa and the rest of the border towns as Lebanon's first line of defense in the face of terrorism,” the army statement added.
“The army has full determination and capacity to continue fighting this terrorism, whose brutal crimes do not differentiate between one sect and another,” Qahwaji said.
“Any act of terror, regardless of its magnitude, cannot at all affect the army's decisive determination to fight terror and protect Lebanon and its stability,” the army chief reassured.
Al-Qaa is a predominantly Christian village nestled in a hilly border area that has been shaken by violence since Syria's conflict erupted in 2011.
At least four suicide bombers hit the village before dawn, a military source has said.
"The first attacker knocked on one of the homes in the village, but after the resident became suspicious, he blew himself up," the source said.
He said three other suicide attackers detonated their own explosives as people began gathering to treat the wounded. The site of the blasts lies on a main road linking the Syrian town of al-Qusayr to Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.
Lebanon's army has fought off jihadist factions along the frontier and has sought to clamp down on local cells operating in the area.
In August 2014, the army clashed with militants from the Islamic State group and al-Nusra Front, al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, in the border town of Arsal.
Y.R.
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