Lebanon army advances against IS in border battle
Islamic State group positions on the country’s eastern border with Syria on Sunday after capturing a third of the territory held by jihadists in the area.
Lebanon’s army began its operation in the Jurud Ras Baalbek and Jurud al-Qaa region around 30 square kilometers (11 miles square) of territory, a military spokesman said.
“That is around a third of the area controlled by the terrorists,” Brigadier General Nazih Jreij said late Saturday.
Jreij said 20 IS fighters had been killed in the clashes, and 10 Lebanese soldiers wounded.
Lebanon’s battle against IS comes as the jihadist group faces assaults in both neighboring Syria and Iraq, where the government early Sunday announced an offensive on the group’s bastion of Tal Afar.
The attack also comes after IS claimed several international attacks, including twin car ramming incidents in Spain that killed 14 people.
hilltop captured from IS on Saturday in a tribute to the victims of those attacks, the army said.
Lebanon’s military estimated around Baalbek and Jurud al-Qaa areas, controlling around 120 square kilometres of territory before Saturday’s advances.
On Sunday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported soldiers were firing heavy artillery and rockets at IS positions in Jurud Ras Baalbek.
The army’s assault comes after Lebanon’s powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah waged its own campaign against jihadists operating in another border area south of the current battle.
The group’s six-day offensive against IS and
The agreement saw around 8,000 refugees and jihadists transported to a jihadist-held area of northwestern Syria in return for the
Hezbollah said Saturday it had launched a simultaneous operation against IS from the Syrian side of the border, where the group’s fighters are battling alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s army against rebels.