“Surrender or die”: Countdown for Al-Nusra in Jaroud Arsal and Qalamoun
Serious fighting is underway in Idleb with Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and allies. Al-Nusra in Lebanon is totally isolated and time is on the Lebanese army’s side. According to Basel El Hugeiri, mayor of Arsal, the Lebanese army urged civilians to leave.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – The battle to eradicate Al Nusra's Islamic terrorism from the Middle East has moved into an area covering some 350 sq km, 250 in Lebanon and 100 in Syria.
For the Lebanese army, it is "finally time to end the Jaroud Arsal affair" in the Bekaa Valley, northeastern Lebanon on the border with Syria.
Islamist terrorists who sought to create a continuous zone under Daesh and Al Nusra from Aleppo and Idleb, north of Lebanon, to Tripoli on the Mediterranean have failed due to the resistance of the Lebanese population, the Lebanese army and Hezbollah.
Some foreign-funded groups have tried to describe the conflict pitting Daesh and Al Nusra against Hezbollah as a sectarian war. However, the crimes committed by Islamist terrorists, including plundering and kidnapping of soldiers of various religious confessions soon showed their true face.
Yesterday the Lebanese army entered Syrian refugee camps to rescue civilians from the upcoming fighting. This has led to a defamatory campaign against Syrians in general with strong racial connotations and the clear intent of provoking clashes in Lebanon between Lebanese and Syrians (who now number around 2 million against a local population of 3.5 million).
To defuse the crisis, Lebanese President Michel Aoun yesterday slammed the inacceptable demonisation of the Syrians, calling for an end to anti-Syrian statements.
He noted that the real problem is the presence of Islamic extremists involved in smuggling across the border with Syria who, whilst trying to invade northern Lebanon and create a Daesh stronghold in Lebanon’s second largest city, also tried to encircle the Alawi majority region around Latakia.
The Gulf crisis between Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain with Turkey aligned with the former and Egypt with the latter now allows Lebanon to give Al-Nusra a final coup de grace without too many vetoes from Gulf States.
Serious fighting is underway in Idleb with Al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham and allies. Al- Nusra is totally isolated in Lebanon and the time is on the Lebanese army’s side.
According to Basel El Hugeiri, mayor of Arsal, the Lebanese army has urged civilians to leave and farmers to remove their animals and farm equipment within 24 hours from around the town.
The end of Al-Nusra in Lebanon seems to be a matter of hours. In Abou Malek, Jihadis can only “surrender or die” like they did a few months ago in Aleppo.
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