As a result of a number of meetings including Syrian and Russian officers and legal figures from the Al-Bekaa area in Lebanon, including Al-Hajj Muhammad Jaafar, a joint Syrian-Lebanese force was established to fight both ISIS and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in the Syrian section of Jaroud Arsal. The decision was made after the continued attacks by these terrorist organizations on civilians in the Lebanese Bekaa from the direction of Jaroud Arsal.
The force will include some 400 Lebanese fighters from 14 Lebanese border villages in the Bekaa region and an unknown number of Syrian volunteers from several villages in the countryside of Qusayr. The force will be led by Haj Mohammed Jaafar. The force will named “the Homeland Shield Forces – Special Tasks”. Russia will provide financial and military support, working on the Syrian side of the border for now.
Meanwhile, Security Forces of the Lebanese Army are being deployed in the camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Sidon Albben, a week after the clashes between Fatah forces and the ISIS-linked group called “the group of Bilal Badr”.
The Lebanese government is in a serious mood to deal with terrorist groups. The decision to launch a military operation to remove them from the border town of Arsal will likely be taken soon. Many of the groups linked to ISIS or Nusra are also overlooked in several Palestinian camps inside Lebanon.
