Mashnouq Convenes Extraordinary Security Council Meeting over Arsal Developments

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Friday presided over an extraordinary meeting for the Central Domestic Security Council, hours after Hizbullah announced the start of a major operation to oust jihadists from the outskirts of the border town of Arsal.

State-run National News Agency said the meeting was dedicated to “following up on the situation in the Arsal outskirts region and the possible repercussions on the Lebanese interior, as well as the measures that should be taken to protect civilians and means to combat incitement on social networking websites.”

The council also “tackled issues that remained classified,” NNA said.

Hizbullah's operation had been anticipated for several weeks, and comes after Lebanese soldiers carrying out raids on Syrian refugee camps in the area were met with suicide bombings and a grenade attack.

That attack heightened tensions over the presence in Lebanon of more than a million refugees from the civil war across the border.