Syria has pledged support for the Lebanese Army in its fight against terrorism as the military pushed ahead with its campaign against al-Qaeda-linked militants entrenched in the Bekaa Valley border town of Arsal.
Syrira "affirms that it stands with the Lebanese Army and stands in solidarity with them in dealing with terrorist groups and eliminating them,” said a source at the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
The source said Damascus was confident of Lebanon’s victory in this battle and in thwarting all plots that had been planned to destabilize the security and stability of its tiny neighbor.
The Lebanese Army Monday said it has regained control of a barracks and a strategic hill overlooking the northeastern town of Arsal, in a third day of ferocious fighting that threatened to further drag Lebanon into the fire next door.
“What is happening in Arsal and its surroundings in terms of terrorist crimes against civilians and Lebanese Army checkpoints and posts necessitates support for the Lebanese Army and standing united with them in their battle against extremist Takfiri terrorism,” said the Foreign Ministry official, in a statement published on the state-owned Syrian news agency SANA.
In the worst Syria-linked violence in Lebanon, the Lebanese Army said the clashes with “Takfiri, terrorist groups” killed 14 soldiers and wounded 86 others, while 22 were still missing, believed to be held captive by the militants.
A delegation from the Committee of Muslim Scholars came under fire late Monday as it attempted to arrange a cease-fire.
The local newspaper An-Nahar quoted a source from the delegation as saying that prominent Sunni Muslim Sheikh Salem al-Rafi and Nabil al-Halabi were slightly wounded in the attack shortly before midnight.
BA/BA
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