| U.S. News & World Report | - |
Lebanese
army soldiers sit inside a Humvee as reinforcements arrive to the
outskirts of Arsal, a predominantly Sunni Muslim town near the Syrian border in eastern Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. Thousands of Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees ...
Syria militants withdraw from Lebanese border town after days of clashes
Lebanese army soldiers sit inside a Humvee as reinforcements arrive to
the outskirts of Arsal, a predominantly Sunni Muslim town near the
Syrian border in eastern Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. Thousands of
Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees packed cars and pickup trucks
Monday, fleeing an eastern border town that was overrun by militants
from neighboring Syria as Lebanese troops fight to liberate the area.
(AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
By FADI TAWIL, Associated Press
LABWEH, Lebanon (AP) — Militants from Syria who overran a Lebanese border town mostly withdrew back across the rugged hills separating the two countries as a cease-fire appeared to hold Thursday, allowing Lebanese troops to free seven fellow soldiers and ambulances to evacuate dozens of casualties.
The seizure of Arsal over the weekend marked the first time that Islamic extremists from Syria carried out a large-scale incursion into Lebanon and raised fears of a further spillover of the conflict across the porous border.
A senior Lebanese security official said the majority of the fighters had withdrawn by mid-Thursday.
As the militants withdrew, the extent of the fighting that began Saturday became clear, as Sunni clerics who negotiated the cease-fire uploaded videos of wounded, wailing children and photographs of dead children.
"We were weeping to see people in need. We had some bread, and people were fighting for the bread," said Sheik Hussam al-Ghali of the Association of Muslim Clerics, who oversaw the negotiations. "I went to some of the (Syrian refugee) camps. The stench of death was very strong," he told media on the outskirts of Arsal.
Red Cross official Abdullah Zogheib said the group evacuated 42 wounded people, most of them women and children, from Arsal on Thursday.
The fighting began Saturday when militants from Syria overran Arsal, seizing Lebanese army posts, soldiers and policemen, and demanding the release of a rebel commander detained in Lebanon. The militants included fighters from the Islamic State group as well as from the Nusra Front, al-Qaida's official Syrian affiliate.
At least 17 soldiers have been killed in the clashes, while 10 are still missing, along with an unknown number of policemen. The fighting trapped tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees in Arsal, and ratcheted up tensions inside Lebanon between supporters and opponents of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
As the truce negotiated overnight appeared to hold, the Lebanese army said it had freed seven soldiers who had been captured by the militants, without providing further details. Twelve more soldiers are still missing along with an unknown number of policemen.
Lebanon's army chief, Gen. Jean Kahwaji, said Thursday that the army's situation in Arsal was "very good," according to state media.
As the men were released, some 20 ambulances of the Lebanese Red Cross rushed into the town to evacuate 34 wounded people.
A field hospital in Arsal said 38 people had been killed in the fighting by Wednesday. The Association of Muslim Clerics posted onto its Facebook page photographs of at least two dead little girls that it claimed were killed in Arsal, alongside videos and photographs of wounded children.
Cleric al-Ghali and a pro-rebel activist who uses the name Ahmad Alquseir said that some Syrian tent encampments near Arsal were struck and burnt by shelling.
In Syria meanwhile, militants from the Islamic State group overran one of the last remaining army bases in the northeastern Raqqa province, activists said Thursday.
The militants seized the Brigade 93 base overnight after days of heavy fighting, according to Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the Raqqa Media Center, an activist collective. The base lies some 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Raqqa, a stronghold for the Islamic State group.
Abdurrahman said dozens of Syrian soldiers were killed. The Britain-based Observatory obtains its information from activists on the ground in Syria. Syrian state media did not report the incident.
A video uploaded to social media networks showed heavily armed men with thick beards -- who claimed to be from the Islamic State group -- walking through the military base, showing off tanks, assault rifles and boxes of ammunition.
LABWEH, Lebanon (AP) — Militants from Syria who overran a Lebanese border town mostly withdrew back across the rugged hills separating the two countries as a cease-fire appeared to hold Thursday, allowing Lebanese troops to free seven fellow soldiers and ambulances to evacuate dozens of casualties.
The seizure of Arsal over the weekend marked the first time that Islamic extremists from Syria carried out a large-scale incursion into Lebanon and raised fears of a further spillover of the conflict across the porous border.
A senior Lebanese security official said the majority of the fighters had withdrawn by mid-Thursday.
As the militants withdrew, the extent of the fighting that began Saturday became clear, as Sunni clerics who negotiated the cease-fire uploaded videos of wounded, wailing children and photographs of dead children.
"We were weeping to see people in need. We had some bread, and people were fighting for the bread," said Sheik Hussam al-Ghali of the Association of Muslim Clerics, who oversaw the negotiations. "I went to some of the (Syrian refugee) camps. The stench of death was very strong," he told media on the outskirts of Arsal.
Red Cross official Abdullah Zogheib said the group evacuated 42 wounded people, most of them women and children, from Arsal on Thursday.
The fighting began Saturday when militants from Syria overran Arsal, seizing Lebanese army posts, soldiers and policemen, and demanding the release of a rebel commander detained in Lebanon. The militants included fighters from the Islamic State group as well as from the Nusra Front, al-Qaida's official Syrian affiliate.
At least 17 soldiers have been killed in the clashes, while 10 are still missing, along with an unknown number of policemen. The fighting trapped tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees in Arsal, and ratcheted up tensions inside Lebanon between supporters and opponents of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
As the truce negotiated overnight appeared to hold, the Lebanese army said it had freed seven soldiers who had been captured by the militants, without providing further details. Twelve more soldiers are still missing along with an unknown number of policemen.
Lebanon's army chief, Gen. Jean Kahwaji, said Thursday that the army's situation in Arsal was "very good," according to state media.
As the men were released, some 20 ambulances of the Lebanese Red Cross rushed into the town to evacuate 34 wounded people.
A field hospital in Arsal said 38 people had been killed in the fighting by Wednesday. The Association of Muslim Clerics posted onto its Facebook page photographs of at least two dead little girls that it claimed were killed in Arsal, alongside videos and photographs of wounded children.
Cleric al-Ghali and a pro-rebel activist who uses the name Ahmad Alquseir said that some Syrian tent encampments near Arsal were struck and burnt by shelling.
In Syria meanwhile, militants from the Islamic State group overran one of the last remaining army bases in the northeastern Raqqa province, activists said Thursday.
The militants seized the Brigade 93 base overnight after days of heavy fighting, according to Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the Raqqa Media Center, an activist collective. The base lies some 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Raqqa, a stronghold for the Islamic State group.
Abdurrahman said dozens of Syrian soldiers were killed. The Britain-based Observatory obtains its information from activists on the ground in Syria. Syrian state media did not report the incident.
A video uploaded to social media networks showed heavily armed men with thick beards -- who claimed to be from the Islamic State group -- walking through the military base, showing off tanks, assault rifles and boxes of ammunition.
As Lebanon Ceasefire Falters, Saudi Offers $1 Billion To...
Lebanon's
army and Islamist militants clashed on Wednesday in breach of a
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SPA...
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