BEIRUT: Lebanese officials condemned attacks on the Army and security forces in Arsal Sunday, stressing the need to support the Army in the crucial battle against terrorism.
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said that supporting the Lebanese Army gains primacy over internal conflict and hollow considerations, stressing that the “sole mission should be [expressing] solidarity and support with the Lebanese Army and security forces in the face of armed groups and Takfirism.”
Jumblatt said that today, more than ever, the nation is endangered by armed groups and closed minded Takfiri thinking, pointing out that security forces are the sole guarantee to the country’s safety.
“There is no haven or escape for us,” he said, stressing that salvation would only come “through supporting the state, and especially the Army.”
Jumblatt saluted members of the Army who were killed in Arsal Saturday, lauding the border town’s residents for supporting the armed forces in their fight against the militant groups.
The Socialist head also hailed the security forces sacrifices during battles in Tripoli and Sidon, expressing his belief that the security situation could only be resolved with a swift election of a president.
“I wish you we could all stop the hollow political debate about the presidency which is taking place from time to time, so that we can get to the election of the president of the republic and install the foundations of the state and state obligations,” he said.
In a later statement, Jumblatt stressed that Hezbollah’s interference in Syria is not what brought ISIS to Lebanon, adding that Hezbollah’s men are sacrificing their lives in Syria.
Hezbollah MP Nawwaf Musawi condemned the vicious attack that took place against Lebanon and that targeted the Lebanese Army and security forces in Arsal, pointing out that the aggression “surprised all Lebanese today, in pictures that provoked them when they saw the assault on their national dignity, because they realized that the threat that was trivialized by some became imminent and would soon reach their own homes.”
Musawi said he was confident that Lebanese people of different political backgrounds now feel the “magnitude of the threat that [Hezbollah] was talking about.”
The Hezbollah MP called on all political forces to resolve political differences and to stand united behind the Lebanese Army, adding that any attempt to undermine the Army is also an attempt to eliminate the presence of Lebanon.
“Everyone in Lebanon now knows that had we [Hezbollah] not done what we did when we appointed ourselves to defend Lebanon and the resistance then our situation today would have been like Arsal. Security forces, governmental institutions and the Lebanese Army would have been subject to attacks everywhere ... for this reason we are proud to be pioneers in evaluating the size of the Takfiri threat,” he concluded.
For his part, Kataeb Party Head Amine Gemayel stressed that the unity of the Lebanese people is what ensures the stability of the country.
Gemayel added that only through the solidarity of the Lebanese people will citizens challenge the Takfiri call, stressing that Lebanon can’t drift in to such a mentality.
Gemayel considered Takfiri terrorism to a foreign element with regards to Lebanon, saying that it is “a germ that can’t settle in any town or village.”
The Kataeb head also expressed his confidence in the victory of the Lebanese Army saying that “without a doubt the Army will win as long as the people rally around them.”
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that “what is happening in Arsal is an armed foreign terrorist force’s occupation of a Lebanese town.”
Tensions have risen dramatically in the Bekaa Valley after an Army arrest of a Syrian militant sparked a standoff Saturday afternoon in Arsal, with armed men laying siege to government facilities in the border town, demanding the release of the captive.
At least 10 Lebanese soldiers were killed in clashes with gunmen that continued overnight in and around the border town of Arsal near Syria, security sources told The Daily Star.
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