Army Shells IS Positions in Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa
The Lebanese army shelled the positions of the Islamic State group on the outskirts of the border towns of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.
From their positions in the northern Bekaa valley, the army bombarded the IS positions with heavy artillery.
It targeted the posts of the militant groups in Ksarat Shmeis al-Mkhayrmeh in the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, NNA added.
The army has been on high alert since the unprecedented suicide bombings that hit the Christian border town of al-Qaa in late June.
Militants from the IS and the Fath al-Sham, previously the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, are entrenched in rugged areas along the undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border.
The two groups briefly overran the town of Arsal in August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles.
The retreating militants abducted more than 30 troops and policemen of whom four have been executed and nine remain in the captivity of the IS group.
Source: Naharnet
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