Lebanese army gearing up for operation against ISIS with help from Hezbollah: Reports

August 8, 2017 By administrator

The Lebanese military is reportedly making preparations to launch a long-awaited operation against hundreds of Islamic State terrorists operating along the Syrian border with the help of the country’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the offensive will also involve Hezbollah resistance fighters and the Syrian military.

More than 3,000 Lebanese troops, including elite special forces, are expected to take part in the upcoming campaign to rid the border regions of Takfiri elements.

Meanwhile, a source at Lebanon’s presidential palace told The Daily Star that the counterterrorism mission will be discussed at a meeting of the Higher Council of Defense headed by President Michel Aoun later on Tuesday.

The meeting will focus on military plans on the outskirts of the town of al-Qaa and the village of Ras Baalbeck as well as the current security situation in Lebanon.

The operation follows Hezbollah’s six-day joint offensive with the Syrian army at the highlands of Arsal bordering Syria. Lebanon’s army did not formally declare its role in the offensive, but shelled terrorist positions in the operation area.

The resistance movement later said it had accomplished the main objective of the Arsal campaign.

Lebanon’s border areas have been hardly hit by the spillover from the Syria crisis over the past few years.

Some 400 Daesh terrorists are holed up in areas on the Lebanese side of the frontier, while hundreds more are on the Syrian side, according to Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk.

On Monday, the Lebanese army pounded Daesh positions in the vicinity of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbeck.

The attack came in retaliation for the Daesh firing of seven Grad rockets into Lebanese territories.

Lebanese parliament endorses new government led by Hariri

December 28, 2016 By administrator

Members of the new Lebanese government pose for a picture at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, on December 21, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

A national unity government headed by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has won a vote of confidence in the parliament.

On Wednesday, the 128-member legislature voted 87 to 4, with one abstention, in support of Hariri’s 30-member cabinet.

The vote of confidence came after Lebanese lawmakers debated the new government’s policy statement that outlined its priorities.

The cabinet, which includes most of the country’s political groups, has the slogan of “restoring confidence.”

In an address to the parliament on Wednesday, Hariri underlined the need for a new electoral law that will replace the 1960s legislation.

“There’s a role that should be played by the cabinet and another by the parliament… All political factions are seeking to endorse a new electoral law,” he said.

Touching on the issue of corruption at state institutions, the Lebanese premier further said that his administration had set a precedent in establishing a ministerial portfolio to tackle graft in the Middle Eastern country.

The new cabinet was announced on December 18, less than two months after the country’s parliament elected Michel Aoun, a Christian leader and strong ally of the Hezbollah resistance movement, as president. Aoun’s election ended a 29-month-long political stalemate in the country.

Lebanon is expected to hold parliamentary elections in May 2017, the first legislative vote in eight years.

Lebanese magazine releases posters printed with blood to commemorate Genocide Video

April 29, 2015 By administrator

Lebanese magazine Audio Kultur has released a series of posters and a limited-edition version of its April issue printed using human blood to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Calvert Journal reports.

The project “Still here, Still Bleeding”, named after the slogan printed across the covers and posters, was developed by the Beirut-based independent magazine to celebrate the contribution that Lebanon’s Armenian population have made to the country’s cultural landscape.

“In Lebanon these contributions have been especially substantial, and a lot of the contributors are friends, colleagues and even family members,” Tres Colacion, editor-in-chief of Audio Kultur, said. “It’s a community that is really fully integrated into Lebanese society and, with the occasion of the 100-year anniversary, it was a project that our editorial team felt compelled to take on.”

Audio Kultur approached five Lebanese-Armenians working in creative industries and asked them each to donate a vial of blood, which was mixed with red ink and used to print the words “Still Here, Still Bleeding” on the front cover of each special edition magazine.

“The donors were all very taken aback when we approached them,” Colacion said. “I think it holds a significance that is not easy to describe. We heard stories of rape, murder, torture…and of survival. It was a very emotional process in ways none of us have ever experienced. Obviously it was a somber experience, but it was also really inspiring.”

Lebanon has one of the highest Armenian populations in the world, many of which are grandchildren of Armenians who took refuge in Lebanon after the genocide in 1915.

Lebanese Leaders to Attend April 24 Commemorations in Yerevan

April 4, 2015 By administrator

Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Lebanon will be represented at commemoration ceremonies in Yerevan marking the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, the Beirut-based Aztag Daily’s Editor-in-Chief Shahan Kandaharian has told Armenpress.

“On April 24, a four-member delegation of the Lebanese Government, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Industry, will visit Yerevan. Besides the executive body, a parliamentary delegation will visit Armenia as well, including the Vice President of the National Assembly and deputies,” Kandaharian said.

Lebanon: Army foils infiltration attempt by jihadi militants near Arsal

March 1, 2015 By administrator

Report Nidal al-Solh| The Daily Star

Lebanese Army soldiers in Arsal. (REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah)

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army Sunday foiled an infiltration attempt by jihadi militants near the northeastern town of Arsal, a security source said.

The security source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said heavy clashes erupted around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the Wadi Hmeid area on the outskirts of Arsal, which resulted in death of several militants.

Resident from the northern neighborhoods of the Arsal told The Daily Star that they heard the sounds of intense artillery fire by the Army for at least 30 minutes Sunday morning.

Another security source explained that the Army’s recent victory against militants in Ras Baalbek and its repositioning in the eastern town has forced the jihadis to find other areas of safe haven.

Last Thursday, an Army operation drove jihadi militants off of two strategic hilltop positions along the northeastern frontier with Syria, in a preemptive operation aimed at protecting residents of border villages from extremist groups.

The Army said in a statement that its troops managed to “wrest full control” of the hilltop positions Sadr al-Jarash and Harf al-Jarash, northeast of Talet al-Hamra on the outskirts of the village of Ras Baalbek.

– See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Mar-01/289161-army-foils-infiltration-attempt-near-arsal.ashx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=Newsletter#sthash.HZwlzNTg.dpuf

8 Lebanese soldiers killed in clashes with ISIL Takfiri militants

January 24, 2015 By administrator

Clashes between the Lebanese army and Takfiri militants have claimed the lives of eight Lebanese soldiers near the Syrian border.

According to the Lebanese military sources, the bodies of three soldiers were discovered near the Lebanese village of Ras Baalbek close to the Syrian border on Saturday. report presstv

Five other soldiers were also reported to have lost their lives following fierce clashes with Syria-based Takfiri terrorists.

On Friday, the ISIL Takfiri terrorists launched a massive attack on Lebanon’s army positions near Ras Baalbek.

Ras Baalbek is located near the town of Arsal, where terrorists killed and kidnapped two dozen Lebanese soldiers in August 2014.

Over the past months, Lebanon has been suffering from terrorist attacks by Takfiri militants and random rocket attacks, which are viewed as a spillover of the conflict in Syria.

The violence fueled by Takfiri groups in Syria has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people since early 2011, according to reports. New figures show that over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, lost their lives in Syria last year.

Takfiri groups, with members from several Western countries, control parts of Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.