Army Celebrates Eastern Border Victory, Aoun Assures 'Aggressors Will be Captured'

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The Army Command celebrated on Saturday the army's victory in ousting the Islamic State extremist militants from Lebanon's eastern border, the National News Agency reported.

Army chief Major General Jospeh Aoun presided over the ceremony honoring army units that participated in the Dawn of the Outskirts battle.

“At the Dawn of the Outskirts we were courageously able to triumph over terrorism, we were up to the challenge,” said Aoun at the beginning of the ceremony.

Addressing the troops, he added: “You have achieved two main objectives of the battle. First, you liberated the land from terrorism and second, you revealed the fate of the kidnapped soldiers. You have to double readiness to confront the Israeli enemy which did not stop threatening the Lebanese security.”

Aoun assured that the military services' efforts to “detain aggressors” will carry on.

Medals were distributed to the commanders of the army units who have participated in the operation.

The celebration was held at the Riyaq military air base in Eastern Bekaa in the presence of security services leaders, senior military officers, the commanders of the regiments that carried out the operation and families of the slain soldiers.

Al-Joumhouria daily reported that Aoun is set to deliver a speech and will “pay a special tribute to families of fallen soldiers, pledging to reveal full facts related to the circumstances that led to their sons' deaths.”

“He will stress that the army is determined to protect the borders and fight terrorism wherever it is,” it added.

Early this week a downtown Beirut rally to celebrate the army's eastern border victory was called off.

Defense Minister Yacoub al-Sarraf and Tourism Minister Avedis Guidanian held a joint press conference to invite the Lebanese to take part in a Thursday rally but on Tuesday the defense and tourism ministries issued a statement saying the celebration was “postponed” after “consultations with the three presidents” and for “purely logistical reasons.”

Al-Joumhouria newspaper had reported that the event was mainly called off to avoid “conflicting stances” from President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the 2014 Arsal clashes, the probe that Aoun has ordered into the kidnap of troops and policemen that year, and Hizbullah's role in the country.

The developments come after Lebanon recovered the bodies of servicemen abducted and executed by the Islamic State group as part of a Hizbullah-led ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire followed separate but simultaneous anti-IS offensives by the Lebanese and Syrian armies and Hizbullah on both sides of the Lebanese-Syrian border.

President Aoun, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared victory over the IS group in the wake of the assaults.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 2
Thumb ___flamethrower___ 16 September 2017, 12:40

lulz@Victory;)

Thumb warrior 17 September 2017, 07:02

Victory>? were there any battles to begin with?