Lebanon receives US artillery, ammunition

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/sy...lave.aspx?pageID=238&nID=116638&NewsCatID=352

Fighters from Saraya Ahl al-Sham, a Syrian rebel group, will start on Aug. 12 to pull out of an enclave in Lebanon on the border with Syria along with some civilians, the head of Lebanon’s General Security said on Aug. 11.

About 300 fighters, along with their families and some other civilians who wish to return to Syria, will be escorted to the border by security forces, General Abbas Ibrahim told Reuters by phone.

Ibrahim said those civilians who had asked to leave along with Saraya Ahl al-Sham would go to the government-held Assal al-Ward district near the border. The fighters would go to a place that had been agreed upon, he said.

Ibrahim did not name the place. But a military media unit run by Hezbollah - which is closely allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - reported that the fighters and their families would go to the rebel-held town of al-Ruhaiba in the Eastern Qalamoun district.

The group’s departure follows that of the al-Nusra Front, which quit its enclave on the border early this month for rebel-held Idlib, in northwest Syria, after its defeat in a Hezbollah offensive.

During that evacuation and others of rebel groups inside Syria to insurgent-held areas, the Syrian government has allowed them to travel under protection in buses and carry small arms. This time, civilians will be allowed to travel in their own cars, Ibrahim said.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite group that has been a close ally of Assad during Syria’s six-year civil war, fighting mostly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him.

The pull-out by Saraya Ahl al-Sham will leave an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) pocket in the same area as the only remaining militant stronghold on the border. A Lebanese army offensive against ISIL is expected to start soon.

The movement of rebel and militant factions across Syria’s border with Lebanon represented the biggest military spillover of its civil war into its tiny neighbor.

The factions took positions in the hills that straddle the border around the northeastern Lebanese town of Arsal, home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. More than 1 million Syrians have sought shelter in Lebanon during the war.

 

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BEIRUT: Lebanese army units took up positions in the northeast of the country on Monday in preparation for a battle with Daesh militants occupying a 260 square km-area straddling the border with Syria.
The troops were deployed in Wadi Hmeid, Al-Malahi city and elevated positions surrounding the Lebanese border area of Arsal.

The troop movements are “a continuation of the tightening of the cordon and the siege on Daesh militants on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa,” an army spokesman said.

The deployment is “a prelude to the expected battle with Daesh,” a Lebanese military source told Arab News. “Zero hour for the start of the battle will be announced by the army commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun. There are signs that suggest the battle is imminent.”

Lebanese artillery is already carrying out a daily bombardment of Daesh positions. “We have coordinates and we monitor movements,” the source said.

The new military deployment came less than two hours after 165 armed fighters from Saraya Ahl Al-Sham, a militant group formerly linked with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), left with their families in a 34-bus convoy traveling from Arsal to the Syrian town of Al-Ruhaiba in eastern Qalamoun, which the opposition group holds in a truce with Syrian regime forces.

Lebanese security authorities and staff from the Lebanese Red Cross escorted the convoy as far as the border. Six of the militants wounded in previous fighting were taken by ambulance to the border, where they were met by the Syrian Red Cross.

The evacuation had been delayed for two days in a dispute over transport. The Syrian regime insisted that the militants could not travel in their own vehicles, and should instead use buses supplied by Syria.

The 165 militants who left Arsal were among 1,000 fighters and their families in the town. The others handed over their weapons to the Lebanese army and remained in Arsal with their families.

They will be accommodated in tents left vacant after the transfer of civilians to Idlib in the exchange deal last week between Hezbollah and the Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham militant group.

“Those who preferred to stay in the camps of Arsal considered that going out to Al-Ruhaiba, without their luggage and their cars, was a loss for them. So they preferred to stay safely in Arsal,” a camp official said.

 

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http://www.arabnews.com/node/1148716/middle-east

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army’s assault on Daesh militants near Ras Baalbek on the Syrian border began to wind down on Monday after most of the territory occupied by the militants was retaken.

Operations on the third day of the offensive were limited to clearing recaptured hills and opening main routes for armored vehicles, a Lebanese military source said.

The source said the army was committed to avoiding civilian casualties, and denied that there were negotiations with Daesh.

Lebanese Army Command said their units had seized a large quantity of weapons, ammunitions and other military equipment from Daesh caves and trenches. They also seized phones, cameras and drugs.

The American Embassy in Beirut expressed “the pride of the US in supporting the Lebanese Army, the only defender of Lebanon in its battle against Daesh.”

The embassy wished a speedy recovery to troops wounded in the operation, and offered its condolences to the families of three Lebanese soldiers who died in a roadside bombing on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah has used weaponized drones against Daesh across the border in war-ravaged Syria, its media arm said, according to AFP.

A source on the ground told AFP it was the first time that Hezbollah had deployed weaponized drones against Daesh in Syria, where the Shiite movement is fighting to bolster President Bashar Assad’s regime.

“The armed drones of the Resistance (Hezbollah) targeted Daesh positions and fortifications in western Qalamun,” Hezbollah’s War Media channel said.

On Saturday, Hezbollah said it had launched an operation against Daesh.

A source on the ground told AFP on Monday that “this is the first time Hezbollah has used weaponized drones in a clash with IS (Daesh).”

The group had deployed such drones in previous clashes with other opponents, “but now we are unleashing a barrage of bombs,” the source said.

Security along Lebanon’s unmarked eastern border with Syria has long been a concern.

Last month, Hezbollah waged a six-day assault against Al-Qaeda’s former affiliate in the border region, which ended in the evacuation of the hard-liners and thousands of civilians.

The current offensive targets remaining territory further north along the frontier where Daesh militants have entrenched themselves.

The Lebanese Army has denied any coordination with Hezbollah or the Syrian regime’s army on the ongoing assault.
Daesh itself has used weaponized drones to defend territory it holds in Iraq and Syria from US-backed offensives.

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BEIRUT: The Lebanese Armed Forces say they have launched the third phase of a broad offensive to capture areas controlled by the Daesh group on the border with Syria.

The army began its operation on Saturday and has so far captured about two-thirds of the area once held by Daesh.

The army said in a statement that a Lebanese mine expert was killed and four others wounded early Tuesday when explosives left behind by the extremists went off as they dismantled them.

The Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, have launched a simultaneous operation to clear Daesh militants from the Syrian side of the border in the western Qalamoun mountain range. Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces since 2013.

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BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army said Tuesday it had captured most of a mountainous area on the border with Syria during an operation to clear Daesh group jihadists from the region.

The army began its campaign in the Jurud Ras Baalbek and Jurud Al-Qaa areas on Lebanon’s eastern border on Saturday, capturing more than two thirds of the 120 square kilometers held by Daesh jihadists in the first two days.
“We have captured around another 20 square kilometers, so we have about another 20 square kilometers to go,” said army spokesman Brigadier General Ali Qanso.

He declined to be drawn on how much longer it would take the army to finish the operation.

Four Lebanese soldiers have been killed since the campaign began, including one on Tuesday when a land mine detonated under his vehicle.

The other three were killed when they drove over a land mine at the weekend.

At a press conference, Qanso presented pictures of Daesh weapons, ammunition and mines recovered during the fight, as well as tunnels used by the jihadist group.

The army estimated that around 600 IS fighters were in the area on the eastern border, where jihadists have long posed a security threat.

In 2014, they invaded the border town of Arsal, capturing 30 Lebanese soldiers and police.

Four were executed by their captors and a fifth died of his wounds. Sixteen were released in a prisoner swap in December 2015, but another nine soldiers are believed to remain in Daesh hands.

Their fate remains unclear, and Qanso said the soldiers were the army’s “top concern.”

The army’s operation comes after Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carried out its own six-day campaign against fighters from a former Al-Qaeda affiliate further south on the border area.

That offensive ended with a cease-fire under which 8,000 refugees and jihadists were transported to northwestern Syria in return for the release of five captured Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched their own simultaneous attack against Daesh from the Syrian side of the border on Saturday, but Lebanon’s army insists it is not coordinating the assault.

 

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BEIRUT: A fourth Lebanese soldier died on Tuesday as the army renewed its attack on Daesh militants near Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa on the Syrian border.

Like the three previous victims who died on Sunday, the soldier was killed when a land mine detonated under his vehicle.

The Lebanese offensive began at dawn on Saturday, and its forces captured two-thirds of the 120 square km held by Daesh in the first two days. “We have captured around another 20 square km, so we have about another 20 square km to go,” army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ali Qanso said on Tuesday.

Qanso said Lebanese forces had captured a key Daesh command post at Ras Al-Kahf, after artillery and aerial bombardment. He presented pictures of Daesh weapons, ammunition and mines recovered during the battle, as well as tunnels used by the militants.

Meanwhile, army engineers continued removing mines and booby traps from the roads, so that armored vehicles could advance. Qanso said the operation would cease only when the Lebanese Army reached the Syrian border, but refused to say how long that was likely to take.

The army estimated that about 600 Daesh fighters were in the area on the eastern border, where extremists have long posed a security threat. In 2014, they invaded the border town of Arsal, capturing 30 Lebanese soldiers and police.

Four were executed by their captors and a fifth died of his wounds. Sixteen were released in a prisoner swap in December 2015, but another nine soldiers are believed to remain in Daesh hands.

Their fate is not known, and Qanso said the captured soldiers were the army’s “top concern.”

In a simultaneous operation, the Syrian Army and Hezbollah continued their assault on Daesh positions in Qalamoun on the Syrian side of the border. Hezbollah said they had captured two strategic hills and seized a quantity of weapons.

The UN’s International Support Group for Lebanon said on Tuesday it supported “the efforts of the Lebanese armed forces in fighting terrorism and protecting the security and safety of the Lebanese lands.”

 

[Hindustani78]

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BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army needs to liberate Martbia, Siraj Hiqab Al-Shir and Al-Shahut in the barrens of Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa to declare victory over Daesh, a Lebanese military source told Arab News.

The Lebanese military command said in a statement that there is “no cease-fire with the terrorist group until their full defeat.”

The source said on Wednesday, the fifth day of Operation Barrens’ Dawn, the army was “clearing the liberated areas from mines… and made them secure after strengthening the military belt around them.”

The army had succeeded in previous days in restricting the militants to a small geographic area of about 20 sq. km. They only had the Martbia crossing to withdraw toward Syria.

The Lebanese Army command mourned Staff Sgt. Walid Mahmoud Freij, who died of injuries he received on the first day of the operation while removing a land mine.

Meanwhile, military operations continued on the Syrian side on Wednesday. Hezbollah said its fighters and the Syrian Army destroyed a Daesh command center in Jib Khawlah, south of the Sin Fikha crossing in western Qalamun.
Hezbollah media reported that they entered Mira crossing, which links the barrens of Qara and Ras Baalbek via Sin Fikha, and that the total area captured amounted to 30 sq. km.

Al-Hariri visit

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri visited the barracks of the army’s second land border regiment in Ras Baalbek.

Along with the commander of the army, Gen. Joseph Aoun, and senior officers, Al-Hariri inspected the military operation room and was updated on developments. The prime minister and Aoun also inspected army positions on the frontlines.

In a press conference at the barracks, Al-Hariri expressed the “firm support of the whole government of the heroic army, which is conducting a difficult task.”

He said: “Those terrorists who claim to be Muslims have nothing to do with Islam or any other religion. Their only religion is murder and explosions, and God willing, we’ll get rid of them and victory is near.”

Al-Hariri told soldiers: “You’re the ones who decide the timing of this victory, because you know when the operation should finish.”

Concerning the participation of Hezbollah in the military operation, Al-Hariri said: “The Lebanese Army is responsible for the Lebanese borders and their protection. There are battles on the other side (of the border), and when we protect our borders we won’t let anyone enter Lebanese territories.”

When asked whether the army was “incapable” of liberating the barrens of Arsal from Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS), so “Hezbollah did the job,” he replied: “The army wasn’t incapable. We had a political decision and different calculations as a government and army. We put everything on the table, and we had the priority of protecting the displaced and the Lebanese. The army… achieved great success at that. Its artillery played an essential role in the battle.”

Al-Hariri said all Lebanese political parties “won’t allow any political differences to affect the stability of Lebanon, its economy and security.”

 

[Hindustani78]

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BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army is not negotiating with Daesh militants in the barren areas close to the border with Syria, a Lebanese military source told Arab News.

“The army is getting ready to carry out the fourth and final stage of Operation Barrens’ Dawn against the terrorist group in Lebanon,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov confirmed Moscow’s “support of the Lebanese government, people and army.”

During his meeting with Lebanese Defense Minister Yacoub Sarraf, Bogdanov highlighted “the importance of Lebanese-Russian ties and the need to further strengthen them.”

The military source said the army “is continuously bombarding terrorist targets, and is still moving forward, with all its equipment, toward the frontlines.”

The source added: “There’s no need for coordination between the Lebanese Army and the Syrian Army or Hezbollah in terms of reaching the borders. Talk about the need for coordination because both sides will intersect at the end of the battle is nonsense.”

The source said the Lebanese Army is supposed to reach the Martbaya-Meera Valley from the Lebanese side, and the Syrian Army and Hezbollah from the Syrian side.

The area “is full of mines planted by Daesh terrorists who retreated to caves in the highlands,” the source added. “We have to de-mine the area before reaching the caves.”

The Lebanese Army said in a statement: “Units are getting readied on the military and logistical levels for the fourth stage of Operation Barrens’ Dawn in Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa, while the army’s artillery and aircraft are bombarding the remaining terrorist sites and gatherings in Wadi Martbaya and its surroundings. The army’s engineering unit is building new roads, cleaning the liberated areas and detonating the bombs, booby traps, mines and suspicious objects left by the terrorists.”

On Thursday, news agencies reported that Daesh fighters were asking to negotiate their withdrawal to Syria’s Deir Ezzor province.

Al Arabiya news channel quoted a Syrian military official as saying a deal was reached between Daesh and Hezbollah regarding the withdrawal to Deir Ezzor.

News sites reported that Daesh had Hezbollah members’ corpses in its possession, and possibly a hostage captured previously in Palmyra, Syria.

Hezbollah’s military media center said its fighters and the Syrian Army continued to make progress against Daesh on the Syrian side of the border.

 

[Hindustani78]

Mourners carry the coffin of Mohammed Haj Hussein , a fighter from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement who was killed in clashes against the militant groups in a mountainous area on the Eastern border with war ravaged Syria, during his funeral in Beirut's Southern Suburb of Ghobayri on August 24 2017

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1151496/middle-east#photo/1

BEIRUT: A top Lebanese security official said Sunday that authorities had located human remains believed to belong to troops kidnapped by the Daesh group three years ago.

The announcement came hours after the Lebanese army declared a cease-fire deal with Daesh along the border with Syria in exchange for information on the missing soldiers.

The head of the General Security agency, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, said Daesh fighters who had surrendered led his agency and the Lebanese army to the remains.

“We have removed the remains of six bodies. We are expecting the number to go up to eight,” he told reporters gathered in downtown Beirut.

“We believe that these remains belong to the soldiers.”

The troops were among 30 soldiers and police kidnapped by Daesh and Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate when they overran the Lebanese border town of Arsal in August 2014.

Four were killed by their captors and a fifth died of his wounds while 16 were released in a prisoner swap in December 2015.

The army has said the missing troops were its “top concern” in its offensive against an estimated 600 Daesh fighters in the hilly border region.

The missing troops were numbered at nine, but Ibrahim on Sunday only referred to the bodies of eight people and did not give details on a ninth.

He said the remains would be subject to DNA testing to ensure their identities but that he was “almost certain that the case is closed.”

The top official spoke in downtown Beirut after informing the soldiers’ families of the developments.

Relatives of the hostages had gathered for hours in the blistering heat on Sunday to await news of their loved ones, sitting in tents they erected three years ago during protests to pressure the government to find the troops.

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BEIRUT: At least eight missing Lebanese soldiers are presumed dead, it emerged on Sunday, after cease-fires were announced in battles against Daesh in the Syrian border region.

The Lebanese army said its cease-fire took effect at 7:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. GMT) on Sunday, bringing a pause to clashes in the barren and mountainous areas close to the border with Syria.

Hezbollah and the Syrian army, which are waging their own fight against Daesh in Syria’s western Qalamoun region, also declared a cease-fire, according to reports.

That side spoke of a “realized victory,” against Daesh, while Lebanon’s response was complicated by news that eight missing army soldiers who had been kidnapped by Daesh more than three years ago had likely been killed.

Daesh had reportedly held nine Lebanese soldiers captive since 2014, when its members along with other militants overran the northeast border town of Arsal.

The head of Lebanon’s internal security agency said the army and security forces had retrieved remains thought to belong six of the soldiers, and were conducting digs on Lebanese land for two others, according to Reuters. DNA tests were needed to confirm the identities, the news agency reported.

“We believe, almost certainly, that these are the remains of the soldiers,” said Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.

The fate of the soldiers was not known until Sunday, when their relatives gathered in Beirut as they awaited news in the case.

Ibrahim told the soldiers’ relatives that “God will help you,” according to a spokesman.

“I know this is a difficult moment ... Liberating the land calls for offering our souls to this country,” Ibrahim said, according to Reuters.

“We do not bargain. We are in the position of the victor and are imposing conditions.”

The remains of six bodies were retrieved from the ground, and it was found that they were wearing shoes issued by the Lebanese army.

News of the discovery regarding the soldiers came just hours after the army announced a cease-fire to hold talks over their fate.

Media close to Hezbollah said the cease-fire deal and negotiations included “the transfer of Daesh armed militants and their families to Deir Ezzor” in Syria, in exchange for the handover of five bodies of fighters buried in Syria, the remains of two other fighters and a prisoner, as well as revealing the fate of the Lebanese soldiers.

The sudden cease-fire and negotiations led to a state of political confusion inside Lebanon.

Ministers from the Free Patriotic Movement moved to the Lebanese army operations room in the barracks of Ras Baalbek in the northeast.

The ministers included Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Defense Minister Yacoub Sarraf, Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil, Tourism Minister Avadis Kadanian and Economy Minister Raed Khoury.

“Lebanon is defeating … terrorism with its own capabilities and strength. This is a purely Lebanese decision,” Bassil said.

The Lebanese foreign minister added: “We did not accept to negotiate with this terrorist organization. We would not have let them go except in exchange for the most valuable thing in the world (our soldiers).”

“Our army defeated (the terrorists) and obliged them to flee. The real victory is to know the fate of the soldiers.”

Hezbollah and Syrian flags flutter on a military vehicle in Western Qalamoun in Syria, Monday. — Reuters

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/516098/World/Mena/Daesh

BEIRUT — The Syrian army and Hezbollah on Monday prepared to escort Daesh (the so-called IS) fighters to eastern Syria from their enclave on the border with Lebanon under an agreement following a week-long offensive against the jihadist group.

It will end any Sunni militant presence on the border, an important goal for Lebanon and the Shiite Hezbollah group, and is the first time Daesh has publicly agreed to a forced evacuation from territory it held in Syria.

Ambulances carrying 25 injured Daesh fighters began moving to a marshaling point for the evacuation convoy, a media unit run by Hezbollah reported, while buses to carry the militants and their family members also moved into the area, a witness said.

Daesh agreed a ceasefire on Sunday with the Lebanese army on one front and the Syrian army and Hezbollah on the other after losing much of its mountainous enclave straddling the border, paving the way for its evacuation.

Both Hezbollah and Lebanese officials have billed the evacuation as a surrender by the militant group.

“We do not bargain. We are in the position of the victor and are imposing conditions,” Lebanese Internal Security Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said on Sunday.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, has been a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad through Syria’s six-year civil war. The Lebanese army said its offensive against Islamic State did not involve coordination with Hezbollah or the Syrian army.

Under the evacuation deal, the militants are to move out of their positions to a point on the Syrian side of the border before their transport to Al-Bukamal in eastern Syria, a Lebanese security source said.

Syria’s state-run Ikhbariya news channel reported on Monday that the group was burning its machinery and headquarters.

A witness in Syria at the position where buses were gathering to receive the Daesh fighters said black smoke was visible in the hills and Syrian army and Hezbollah vehicles were present.

The deal involved Daesh revealing the fate of nine Lebanese soldiers it captured when it overran the town of Arsal in Lebanon in 2014.

A senior Lebanese security official said late on Sunday the soldiers were almost certainly dead after recovering six bodies and digging for two others in areas previously held by Daesh.

Earlier this month, two other pockets straddling the border were recaptured by Lebanon and Syria after other militant groups accepted similar evacuation deals. — Reuters

Those agreements were prompted by a brief Hezbollah offensive that began at the end of July against militants of the group formerly known as Nusra Front, which was Al-Qaeda’s official partner in Syria until last year.

Hezbollah has maintained a strong presence in the parts of Syria near the border with Lebanon for years, helping Assad to recapture several rebel-held towns and villages there.

The threat to Lebanese territory from rebel and militant groups in Syria was evident in the 2014 attack on Arsal. Suicide bomb attacks struck a predominately Shiite area in south Beirut, where Hezbollah is widely supported, in November 2015.

Inside Syria, Daesh is retreating on all fronts, losing territory both to the Syrian army and its allies, and to an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias backed by a US-led coalition. — Reuters

 

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BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities detained and interrogated a suspected Daesh commander and referred his case to a special court, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported on Thursday.

Security forces arrested the man in Arsal, a town in northeastern Lebanon near the enclave Daesh held until a Lebanese army offensive pushed them from it last week.

During interrogation the man confessed to participation in several attacks in Lebanon as well as recruitment, smuggling, kidnapping, arms procurement and financing Daesh operations, NNA reported.

Also on Thursday, a military investigative judge charged 39 individuals of Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese nationalities with belonging to and promoting the ideology of Islamic State.

Daesh has carried out several attacks in Lebanon in recent years, including a series of suicide bombings in the small town of Al-Qaa in the Bekaa valley a year ago.

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BEIRUT: The Syrian army and Hezbollah prepared on Monday to transport Daesh fighters from their enclave on the border with Lebanon to eastern Syria after a week-long offensive against the jihadist group.

It will end any militant presence on the border, an important goal for Lebanon and the Shiite Hezbollah group, and is the first time Daesh has publicly agreed to evacuate territory under force.

Daesh agreed a cease-fire on Sunday with the Lebanese army on one front and the Syrian army and Hezbollah on the other after losing much of its mountainous enclave straddling the border, paving the way for its evacuation.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, has been a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad during Syria’s six-year civil war.

The Lebanese army said its offensive against Daesh did not involve coordination with Hezbollah or the Syrian army.
The militants will move out of their positions to a point on the Syrian side of the border where they will board vehicles along with their families to transport them to Albukamal in east Syria, a Lebanese security source said.

Syria’s state-run Ikhbariya news channel reported on Monday that the group was burning its machinery and headquarters.

A witness in Syria at the position where buses are gathering to receive the Daesh fighters said black smoke was visible in the hills and that Syrian army and Hezbollah vehicles were present.

The deal involved Daesh revealing the fate of nine Lebanese soldiers it captured when it overran the town of Arsal in Lebanon in 2014.

A senior Lebanese security official said late on Sunday the soldiers were almost certainly dead after recovering six bodies and digging for two others in areas previously held by Daesh.

Earlier this month, two other pockets straddling the border were recaptured by Lebanon and Syria after other militant groups accepted similar evacuation deals.

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BEIRUT: A convoy of Daesh fighters and their families surrendered their enclave on the Lebanon-Syria border area on Monday and left for eastern Syria after a week-long battle.

Daesh had agreed a cease-fire on Sunday with the Lebanese army on one front and the Syrian army and Hezbollah on the other after losing much of its mountainous enclave straddling the border.

Lebanese officials said the evacuation was a surrender. “We do not bargain. We are in the position of the victor and are imposing conditions,” said security chief Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.

A total of 600 people, including both Daesh fighters and their family members, left in the convoy.

The militants will travel across Syria under heavy security escort to Daesh lines near Al-Bukamal in the east, a Lebanese security source said.

The Daesh fighters set fire to heavy equipment and weapons before they left their enclave.

A Lebanese military source said there had been no negotiation or coordination with Syrian forces or Hezbullah. “We heavily bombarded them and this is what accelerated the process of their surrender.”

The deal also involved Daesh handing over the bodies of eight Lebanese soldiers it captured and killed when it overran the town of Arsal in 2014. DNA tests are being conducted to reveal the identity of each body.

Some politicians asked why the terrorists were allowed to withdraw without being arrested. A military source told Arab News: “If the political decision had been in our hands, we would have waged this battle back in 2014, but they did not allow us to do so.”

Gen. Ibrahim said: “Lebanon is a country that doesn’t take revenge; it rather complies with the international law. Whoever falls into the hands of Daesh will certainly be killed, as they are criminals and murderers. This is what happened with our hero soldiers.”

Regarding the fate of photographer Samir Kassab and kidnapped bishops Boulos Yaziji and Youhana Ibrahim, Gen. Ibrahim said: “They were included in the recent negotiations but Daesh confirmed that it did not kidnap them and does not know anything about them.”

He said: “We are now reviewing their file from the beginning to determine the side that kidnapped them. I believe Daesh because it was collapsing and under pressure, therefore it cannot hide anything.”

Former Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said: “How can the Lebanese state stand still for the second time, after the withdrawal of terrorist Abu Malek Al-Tali and his group, allowing Daesh terrorists to leave Lebanon to where they choose without trials, especially after confirming the death of our soldiers.”

He claimed that their “withdrawal came implementing a bilateral agreement between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime,” which the Lebanese military denies.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil tweeted: “Our sorrow and mourning will not absolve us of the responsibility to reveal the truth and hold whoever killed our soldiers accountable. Only justice can bring comfort and peace to their souls.”

MP Mohammed Safadi asked for “an explanation regarding the departure of Daesh to Deir Ezzor and the agreement regarding their withdrawal.”

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“The Lebanese flags were raised on the … highest peaks in the area, while specialized units in the Engineers Regiment surveyed the area in search of land mines, explosive devices, and suspicious objects left by the terrorists.”
The deployment came just after the army was moved to deny reports claiming the resignation of the commander of the military operation in the area, criticizing the websites that published the news.

Lebanon on Tuesday witnessed heightened political tensions relating to the military operation and recent confirmation that eight Lebanese soldiers kidnapped by Daesh in 2014 had been killed. Hezbollah supporters accused the government of former Prime Minister Tammam Salam and the Future Movement of preventing the army from launching a military operation to liberate the kidnapped soldiers.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri said on his Twitter account that “Prime Minister Salam is higher than the reach of the prejudiced; we were, and still are, standing by him. Enough is enough.”

The Future Movement political movement denounced “the deceptive stance of Hezbollah in the last phase of the confrontation, which the Lebanese army fought with high professionalism against (Daesh).”

The statement also criticized Hezbollah for securing the withdrawal of Daesh militants to Syria “without punishing the killers of the Lebanese soldiers.”

By doing this, according to the Future Movement, “Hezbollah revealed to the Lebanese people that it is only concerned about its own interests, the interests of Iran and the Syrian regime, regardless of the interests of the Lebanese people.”

Samir Geagea, the executive chairman of the Lebanese Forces, claimed in a statement that “Hezbollah could have reached the exchange deal after the complete expulsion of ISIS (Daesh) from Lebanese territory by the Lebanese army, not before that.”

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil stated that the terrorist project in Lebanon has failed.
Bassil called for “a new approach to Syria and the region … Lebanon should be ready to defend its higher interests, starting with the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland and encouraging that from now.”

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Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah responded to the Iraqi condemnation by saying the agreement “was to transfer a number of Daesh fighters and their families from Syrian territories to Syrian territories, not to Iraq.”


Nasrallah added: “They are 310 defeated and conquered militants. We moved them from a battlefront we are fighting in, to another front we are also fighting in.”

Hours before the coalition raid, Lebanon’s president and military declared victory against Daesh in Operation Barrens’ Dawn.

Address the Lebanese people and announcing the end of the operation, President Michel Aoun said: “The army proved to be strong as it is the only military force that defeated Daesh, and what distinguished this battle is the high level of professionalism. Do not allow political bickering to make you forget this victory.”

After his meeting with the president, Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun told reporters: “We besieged the terrorists from three sides, and we did not let them know where they were attacked from. The element of surprise led to their collapse. We did not arrest anyone because they were either killed or fled to Syrian territories.”

Asked why Daesh fighters were allowed to withdraw instead of being arrested, the commander replied: “We had the chance to win the battle without going on with it until the end, and this a great achievement for us.”

Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, on Wednesday congratulated the Lebanese military on the operation’s success.

The Lebanese National News Agency quoted Votel as saying the US will keep supporting the Lebanese Army with weapons and equipment to develop and strengthen its capabilities.

Gen. Aoun told Votel: “American aid to the army had actively contributed to the success of the operation.”

 

[HAIDER]

Lebanese army receives 50 American armored vehicles of the "Bradley" type
View attachment 417579

failed vehicle from Iraq war.

 

[The SC]

failed vehicle from Iraq war.

They are sending them to Saudi Arabia now, since the US says that KSA has paid for them in the first place..

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1154086/middle-east

BEIRUT: The Daesh group has handed over the body of a recently captured Iranian Revolutionary Guard member as part of a deal that allowed hundreds of extremists and their families to evacuate the Lebanon-Syria border region.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which negotiated the controversial deal, said Thursday it had received the body of Mohsen Hojaji and would conduct DNA tests before sending his remains onward to Iran. The handover was reported by the Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV.

The evacuation deal, in which the militants also revealed the locations of the remains of Lebanese soldiers captured in 2014 in exchange for safe passage to an Daesh-held area in Syria near the Iraqi border, angered Iraq and the US-led coalition, which said Daesh militants should be killed on the battlefield.

US airstrikes on Wednesday blocked the convoy of evacuees, which includes some 300 fighters and as many civilians, without targeting the evacuees themselves.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said some ambulances that were part of the Daesh convoy were able to cross into Daesh-held territories in Syria. He added that Hojaji’s body was released after the ambulances carrying wounded Daesh fighters made it to areas held by the extremists.

Daesh recently released a video showing its gunmen capturing a position manned by Iranian-backed fighters on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Hojaji was shown being captured alive and taken into a vehicle. Later footage shows his decapitated body.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said earlier this week that the deal would include the handover of a Hezbollah fighter held by Daesh as well as the bodies of two Hezbollah members and Hojaji. Both Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

He added that the group is exploring secret ways in which the convoy can cross into Daesh-held areas without being targeted by the US-led coalition.

Coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said that they continue to monitor the buses. He said he could not confirm whether any ambulances made to Daesh-held areas.

“The buses have not made it to Daesh-held territory and we will stick with what we said yesterday and that is we can strike Daesh elements without harming civilians whenever and wherever we will,” Dillon said, using a term to refer to Daesh. He added that they struck several vehicles in Daesh-held parts of Syria overnight.

Responding to the Iraqi criticism, Nasrallah said in a statement that negotiating with the militants was the “only way” to resolve the “humanitarian and national” issue of finding the remains of nine Lebanese soldiers that the militants kidnapped in 2014.

The Hezbollah leader received a letter of support Thursday from Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces, expressing support to the Lebanese leader, according to Al-Manar.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1156706/world

BEIRUT: Lebanon has identified the bodies of 10 of its soldiers found along the Syrian border in an area taken back from Daesh last week, the Lebanese National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The army’s offensive against the Daesh-held enclave in eastern Lebanon ended with an evacuation of Daesh militants and their families to eastern Syria under a Hezbollah-brokered cease-fire deal.

Under the agreement Daesh militants identified where they had buried the soldiers, Lebanese army chief General Joseph Aoun said last week.

DNA tests confirmed that all 10 bodies found in the former Daesh-enclave were the missing Lebanese soldiers, security sources and local media reported on Wednesday.

Daesh militants had for years held territory along the border, and captured the Lebanese soldiers in 2014 when they briefly overran the town of Arsal, one of the worst spillovers of the Syrian conflict into Lebanon.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun last week called for an investigation into the responsibilities their capture.

Justice Minister Salim Jrayssati said a military court would look into whether the civilian or military authorities contributed to their capture, Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television reported on Wednesday.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1157906/middle-east


BEIRUT: Lebanon held a day of national mourning on Friday in tribute to nine soldiers killed by Daesh terrorists three years ago. A tenth solider, recently killed in an ambush near the Lebanese-Syrian border, was also remembered at the ceremony.

The 10 soldiers honored on Friday were: Ibrahim Mgheit, Ali Masri, Mustafa Wehbe, Seif Zabyan, Mohammed Youssef, Khaled Hassan, Hussein Ammar, Ali Hajj Hassan, Abbas Medlej and Yehya Ali Khoder.

The ceremony was held at the Defense Ministry in Beirut. In tribute to the martyrs, serving soldiers repeated three times, “We will never forget you.”

The soldiers were awarded Lebanon’s highest posthumous medals by Lebanese President Michel Aoun. Their families were handed the Lebanese flag by Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun.

The farewell ceremony was attended by President Michel Aoun; Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri; Prime Minister Saad Hariri; a large number of valiant serving soldiers, representatives of the heads of communities, diplomats and families of the martyrs.

Interior Minister Nohad Al-Mashnouq was not present at the ceremony because the families of the deceased soldiers had accused him of “being behind their sons’ executions, when he stormed Roumieh prison, a year after the abduction of the soldiers, which provoked Daesh militants at the time.”

Addressing the soldiers’ families, President Michel Aoun said: “The blood of your sons was not shed in vain and the goals they died for will be attained and the truth will be unveiled.” He stressed the necessity of “national unity.”

“We will surely triumph over terrorism, and we are aware of the sleeping terrorist cells that will try to retaliate after their defeat; we will remain vigilant,” said Gen. Joseph Aoun in his speech.

“We are fully committed to all provisions of Resolution 1701 and we will cooperate with the UNIFIL to maintain the stability of the southern borders,” he added.

The convoy transporting the coffins of the Lebanese soldiers passed by the families’ tent in Riad Al-Solh Square where relatives of the soldiers have held a sit-in for the past three years. They had demanded to know the fate of their loved ones. Mourners threw rice and flowers at the procession as it passed on its way to the North, to Bekaa and Shouf regions.

“It is a moment of dignity,” said Hussein Youssef, father of soldier Mohammed, and unofficial spokesman for the soldiers’ families.

President Aoun later chaired the Higher Defense Council’s meeting at Baabda Presidential Palace where measures to be taken by the army to deploy troops on the eastern borders were discussed. The meeting also discussed proposals to improve logistics and military supplies as soon as possible.

The Council issued a statement urging “all security forces to remain vigilant in case of retaliatory operations which might destabilize the country.”

The Council delegated Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil to submit to the UN Security Council a list of Israeli violations, including the use of Lebanese airspace for direct strikes on Syria.

**************


Army Commander General Joseph Aoun attends the offical funeral ceremony for the Lebanese soldiers who were killed in Daesh captivity at the Ministry of Defense in Yarze village, east of Beirut. — Reuters
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/516823/World/Mena/Lebanon

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Foreign Ministry says it will file an "urgent complaint" against Israel with the United Nations Security Council.

Lebanon said in a statement Saturday that Israel violated its air space when it conducted an air strike against a Syrian government installation on Thursday.

Israeli jets flew struck an installation that former Israeli military and intelligence officials said was producing weapons possibly bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Israel's chief rival in the region. The Syrian army said at the time that two soldiers were killed.

Meanwhile, army chief General Joseph Aoun said on Friday that Lebanon's army will deploy along the country's entire eastern border with Syria and remain stationed there after recently recapturing areas from Daesh militants.

The remarks appeared to confirm comments by the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah that it was handing over points it had controlled along the border to the military.

"The army will deploy from now onwards along the extent of the eastern borders, to defend them," Aoun said at a ceremony commemorating Lebanese soldiers killed by Daesh.

An army offensive last month ended with the militants withdrawing from their last foothold along the border under a ceasefire deal. The Syrian army and Hezbollah fought the militants separately on the Syrian side.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in July it would be ready to hand over territory it captured if the Lebanese army requested it.

Security sources said Hezbollah had begun handing over points it controlled.

Lebanon's southern border with Israel, a Hezbollah foe, is patrolled by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. — Agencies

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1158551/middle-east

BEIRUT: Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has directed his country’s permanent representative to the UN to file an “urgent complaint against Israel for breaching Lebanese airspace.”

Israel this week admitted carrying out “a raid against targets on Syrian territory from Lebanese airspace.”

Lebanon’s Higher Defense Council, chaired by President Michel Aoun, met on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri, other ministers and heads of the security forces. The council directed Bassil to submit a complaint to the UN Security Council.

“The presentation made by the security leaders during the meeting of the council confirmed that the Israelis used Lebanese airspace to launch a raid on Syria,” Interior Minister Nohad Al-Mashnouq told Arab News.

“It’s normal for Lebanon to lodge a complaint to the Security Council because we don’t accept any strike from Lebanese airspace, whether from the Israelis or anyone else. Strikes will exacerbate the situation without any valid justification. Lebanon should play no part in the ongoing regional tension.”

State Minister for Combatting Corruption Nicolas Tueni said in a statement: “The Israeli enemy using Lebanese airspace to launch its raids is a clear violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

He added: “What the enemy has done is mainly to evade Russian air defenses; it is another attempt to drag Lebanon into the midst of wars in the region and an attempt to undermine the victories of our army and our slain soldiers.

“It is living proof of Israeli violence, knowing that Lebanon and its people have defeated the enemy several times which led to the collapse of Israeli military deterrence forces. The Israeli leaders will not dare to venture again into Lebanon.”

Meanwhile, a meeting was held between the commander in chief of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Gen. Michael Perry, and the heads of the municipalities of villages in Tyre.

He said UNIFIL is “working day and night” to defuse tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border, “in cooperation with our colleagues and strategic partners in the Lebanese Army.”

The American Embassy in Lebanon said the US Central Command’s director of strategy, plans and policy, Maj. Gen. George Smith, met with Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun and congratulated the army on its recent success in border operations against militants.

Smith “met with senior Lebanese military counterparts to discuss areas of cooperation to further develop the army’s capabilities as the sole defender of Lebanese territory and Lebanese borders,” the embassy said in a statement.

 

[Hindustani78]