BAALBEK, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army drove jihadi militants out of two strategic hilltop positions along the northeastern frontier with Syria Thursday, 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.
The statement said the swift operation, carried out at dawn, “aimed at preventing terrorist groups from infiltrating [Lebanese territories] and attacking citizens.”
It said a “number of explosive devices, medium and light weapons and ammunition, as well as military equipment belonging to the terrorists” were seized during the offensive.
The military said it pounded militants positioned near the hilltops with artillery and other weapons, inflicting losses among them.
The Army confirmed that three of its soldiers were lightly wounded during clashes with the jihadis, which followed the operation. Security sources said at least three militants were killed.
It said troops “continued to target militant positions and areas of terrorist concentrations with artillery barrages and heavy weapons.”
Speaking to The Daily Star, a senior Army source highlighted the importance of the two hilltop sites.
“These hills are of great strategic importance. First, troops can defend all Army posts behind them from these hills.
Second, today’s [Thursday’s] step will prevent jihadis from sneaking to attack Army posts or plant explosives,” the source said.
He added that the Army’s action came in light of information that militants positioned in the two hills were plotting attacks.
“We found explosive devices and explosive belts in these hills. This means that fighters used to prepare suicide bombers there and send them to attack the Army or send fighters to plant bombs.”
The source said that the Army did not find bodies of dead militants in the hills.
Security sources said that five soldiers were wounded and at least three jihadi militants killed during the battles.
The sources told The Daily Star that an officer and four troops suffered light to moderate wounds when a rocket fired by militants crashed near their vehicle on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, hours after the military launched its preemptive operation.
They said the rocket was launched around midday after the bodies of three jihadis were found during the battles.
The sources said that the soldiers, including an officer, suffered only minor wounds.
By Thursday afternoon, the Army was still pounding militant bases on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and areas of Khirbet Daoud and Al-Ajram.
Most of the Syria-based militants, believed to be affiliated with ISIS, have apparently retreated.
The preemptive attack came after the Lebanese Army fortified fixed positions along the Syrian border.
Other sources said artillery batteries were sent forward late Wednesday night to reinforce the Lebanese Army and took up positions in Talet al-Hamra and Wadi Rafeq.
They said artillerymen hammered jihadi positions for 45 minutes.
Last month, eight soldiers, including an officer, were killed and 22 others wounded in fierce clashes with ISIS militants on the outer edge of Ras Baalbek, which erupted after ISIS militants briefly overran the Army post in Talet al-Hamra.
The Army has been shelling the positions of militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front holed up on the outskirts of Arsal and Ras Baalbek almost on a daily basis over the past few months.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Deputy-Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem reiterated his party’s warning that jihadis on the outskirts of Arsal could attack Lebanese territories once snow melted there in the spring.
“Thus, Lebanon should study its options well, as this project targets Lebanon from the occupied area in Arsal,” Qassem said during a memorial ceremony in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“The danger will continue to exist if they [the militants] are not confronted like what happened in the north,” Qassem said in reference to an Army crackdown on Islamist militants in Tripoli last October.
But Qassem assured the Lebanese public that Hezbollah was not afraid of the militants.
“We will keep chasing and killing them and God willing they will achieve nothing.”
