BEIRUT: Arsal residents are not transporting fuel to extremist militants, Arsal's mayor insisted Thursday, rejecting rumors that supplies were being transferred to the town's outskirts.
“Talk about the transfer of diesel and some necessities from Arsal to the militants is untrue and has other motives behind it,” Mayor Ali Hujeiri told a news conference.
He called on the Lebanese Army to “carefully examine” reports handed over to them before taking any action.
Hujeiri also urged the Army to allow Arsal residents to reach their worksites on the town’s outskirts along with their “personal necessities.”
He said 90 percent of the locals worked at quarries scattered in the vicinity of Arsal.
Hujeiri said last month’s battle in Arsal between Islamist militants affiliated with ISIS and the Nusra Front was planned 20 days before the insurgents’ attack.
“We have cautioned the Army of the plot, which Arsal residents foiled by confronting them [militants],” he said, while warning that a similar scenario appeared to be in the offing.
Hujeiri called on ISIS and Nusra militants holding at least 22 Lebanese soldiers and policemen captive to release the hostages as a “goodwill gesture for the sake of Arsal residents before others.”
The Lebanese Army fought five days of deadly battles with extremist militants in Arsal last month. The militants took dozens of hostages with them as they retreated toward the town’s outermost edge.
On Wednesday, the owners of quarries on Arsal’s outskirts voiced anger over the Army’s strict regulations on transporting fuel to areas close to the militants.
After August’s clashes, the military banned the transportation of “large” amounts of fuel to the area.
But the quarry owners said in a statement Wednesday that they needed at least 300 liters of diesel per day while the Army only allowed the passage of 20 liters.
“How can we allow them to pass the diesel if they will eventually be stolen by ISIS and Nusra?” a high-ranking Army source asked The Daily Star.
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