Army Widens Bekaa Operation as Syria Takes Measures Across the Border
The Syrian military has deployed across the border with Lebanon to prevent fugitives behind the killing of four soldiers from escaping Lebanese territories as the Lebanese army widened its operation in the eastern Bekaa valley.
An Nahar daily said Wednesday that the official decision of Lebanese authorities "is to go ahead till the end in punishing the culprits."
The newspaper reported that Hizbullah and Amal movement informed Lebanese authorities that they "do not provide any political cover for the fugitives."
The Bekaa valley”s northern part has for decades been notoriously lawless, with Shiite clans holding sway. It is also a Hizbullah stronghold.
The army is hunting down suspected drug lords behind the killing of four soldiers. On Monday, assailants raked an army convoy with bullets and blasted it with a grenade killing the troops and critically wounding an officer, in an apparent drugs-related ambush in the Bekaa.
The four soldiers were laid to rest in their hometowns on Tuesday.
Speaking after a tour of military bases in the northern Bekaa Tuesday, army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji said he was committed to capturing the perpetrators.
"Yesterday”s (Monday”s) attack against the army is a form of terrorism that the whole nation has condemned," he said.
"Lebanon”s support of the military institution is evidence that it despises these acts and trusts the military," he added.
An Nahar said that the names of eight people who carried out the attack were available.
The army, meanwhile, widened a massive operation in Bekaa”s north and pursued the criminals backed by helicopters in the valley of Nahle town, east of Baalbek after reports that the assailants headed to the area on motorcycles.
In its massive operation, the military arrested 35 fugitives, killed a man and injured another after they ignored orders to stop.
Several hundred kilograms of poppy seeds used to grow hashish were seized at the home of a suspected drug lord on the run. Soldiers also confiscated large weapons caches in addition to several vehicles, some of which were stolen.
Media reports also said that the army carried out a raid in the town of Majdel Anjar and arrested a fugitive. But unknown assailants threw a concussion bomb on the army patrol and helped the criminal escape. Two people were lightly injured.