BEIRUT: ISIS and Nusra Front militants holed up in Syria’s Qalamoun area on the border with Lebanon do not exceed 3,000 and are too weak to wage a large-scale assault on the country, a report said Tuesday.
“The efforts of the terrorists are currently focused on surviving (winter) storms and snow, a matter that essentially requires securing access to supplies,” daily newspaper Al-Joumhouria cited “foreign intelligence reports” as saying.
“The terrorists are actually expected to continue carrying out sporadic raids on different targets along the border to prevent being cut off and to inflict losses on those who are fighting against them,” the paper added.
According to the reports which carried data gathered by satellite monitoring, the number of gunmen in Qalamoun is not more than 3,000, scattered over a large geographical area.
Their relatively small numbers make them incapable of overrunning and maintaining control of Lebanese territory similar to what ISIS did in Iraq last year when the jihadis swallowed up one-third of the country in a blitz-like offensive.
“However, they are able to carry out guerrilla warfare against the Lebanese Army by setting up ambushes and retreating quickly to their hideouts,” the paper said.
The Syrian militants were counting on dormant Al-Qaida-linked cells in Tripoli and Akkar in north Lebanon to secure a supportive environment, “but that option as well is not available,” especially after the Army’s crackdown on Islamist gunmen in the region, the daily added.
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