“We pledge allegiance to [ISIS chief] Abu Bakr al-Husseini al-Qurshi al-Baghdadi to listen and obey,” a man identifying himself as Abu Sayyaf al-Ansari and claiming to be based in the northern city of Tripoli said in an audio message released late Saturday.

“We ask [Baghdadi] to reactivate its [ISIS] cells in Lebanon to carry on with jihadist [operations] that have intimidated America,” Abu Sayyaf said in the recording, which was circulated on social media websites and widely covered on local news outlets.

In an article published Saturday, Al-Akhbar newspaper described Abu Sayyaf as an Al-Qaeda commander based in Lebanon but little else is known about the man in the recording.

In the message, Abu Sayyaf also urged Lebanese soldiers from the Sunni sect to desert because the national army was supported by Hezbollah resistance group.

“The Umma (nation) has been shaken as a result of the betrayal of the crusader Lebanese Army that is backed by Hezbollah,” he said, asking Muslim Scholars in Tripoli to support his cause.

The Lebanese Army has in recent days been targeted during sporadic clashes between opponents and supporters of Syria’s foreign-charged insurgency in Tripoli. Two soldiers have been killed in the attacks.

Tripoli has witnessed some 19 rounds of fighting between militants in Bab al-Tabbaneh and of Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods since the war in Syria began in March of 2011.

A Lebanese cleric, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted by Lebanese Daily Star that ISIL and the al-Nusra Front, which is al-Qaeda’s main branch in Syria, sought to transform Lebanon into a front.

ISIL and Nusra Front in Lebanon have claimed responsibility for three bombings in the country.

SHI/SHI