17 killed in Syrian militants and Lebanese soldiers clashes

The fighting between Syrian Islamist fighters Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State (EI) against the Lebanese army have left at least 17 dead, including 11 Lebanese soldiers and wounded 30 in the past 48 hours. Another 18 policemen held hostage by Lebanese Syrian Islamists entrenched in the Lebanese city of Ersal, 12 kilometers from the border with Syria.

Fighting has intensified in the afternoon on Sunday with an exchange of mortar between the positions of the rebels and the Lebanese army on top of the mountains surrounding Ersal. The Islamists have taken control of a Lebanese military post.

The capture by the Lebanese Army on Saturday Imad Jomaa Ahmed, an Islamist leader linked to EI, was the trigger for dozens of Syrian Islamist al Nusra and EI- up to 2000, according to some witnesses extend into Lebanon to free. The Islamists have taken control of the city and the local police station. ” They caught several police vehicles, weapons that were in the commissary and 18 policemen. We have tried to negotiate his release but will not yield until it is returned to them their leader, “reported by telephone Fléty Ahmed, Deputy Mayor of Ersal. In a video posted on the Internet, police were forced to declare that the Lebanese army deserted pora protest interference by the Shiite militia Hezbollah (ally of the regime of Bashar al-Assad) in Syria.

Lebanese army and Hezbollah from Lebanese territory trying to close the circle Islamists entrenched in Ersal, while the Syrian aviation does so from its territory by bombing the mountains where the rebels are hiding. Not the first time the Syrian war spills over into Lebanese territory; months that reverberates in other Sunni strongholds in northern Lebanon. ” This attack was deliberate. Al Nusra weeks ago and trying to enter Ersal EI. Until now there was a tacit agreement between the rebels and Ersal that entry of Syrian fighters would endanger their own families, who have sought shelter in this city as refugees. Ahmed Jomaa is not even an important leader, but an excuse to bring the war to Lebanon ” on condition of anonymity says an official from the mayor of Ersal.

As feared and numbers after altercations between rebels and Hizbullah in the past four years, Ersal has become the symbol of the division of the Lebanese against the Syrian conflict and on the board of the first direct confrontation between Islamist groups and uniformed Syrian rebels Lebanese. Sunni oasis in the forecourt of the Bekaa, controlled by Hezbollah, openly positioned Ersal and since the beginning of the conflict in favor of the rebels. Hezbollah did for the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Pushed by Hezbollah from Syria and the Syrian army, which attempt to crush rebels bags Qalamoun region, a thousand Islamist fighters have retreated in recent months in the mountains which separate Lebanon from Syria. Unlike other rebel areas, and EI Qalamun Al Nusra collaborate in joint operations. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, in March 2011, has been simultaneously Ersal departure point for hundreds of Lebanese fighters who have joined the Syrian rebels, and input to 120,000 Syrian refugees who have quadrupled the number of inhabitants.

Given the upsurge in fighting, dozens of vehicles fleeing this weekend Ersal. On board a truck, a dozen children, women and men of the city natives managed to escape across the military and faces posts pricked by fear and lack of sleep. “It was a horrible night between bombings and shootings. Gunmen with black pins control the city center. We escaped by a miracle, ” recounted Abu Mazen from atop the truck.

Have had worse luck the rest of the 35,000 Lebanese and Syrian refugees trapped in 120,000 Ersal. Hemede Farah, Lebanese 42, told from the city that has managed to flee with his family away from home Ersal. Syrian refugees without vehicles and nowhere to run, can not escape. “Several mortars reached the camp we inhabited and shops were burned. We have managed to flee to another camp farther. We reached one year Ersal fleeing war in Quseir ago, and now returns to us the war in Lebanon. We no longer have to hide, ” also lamented Abu Mazen phone, Syrian refugee and father of four children.

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Posted by Maleeha Tareen on Aug 6 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.