Lebanese civilians flee the fighting. Yahoo/AP
A major battle between the Lebanese army and unnamed Sunni extremists broke out over the border town of Asral. Yahoo/AP Thousands of civilians, including many refugees from the Syrian conflict, fled the area. A massive artillery barrage, with as many as three shells being fired a minute, bracketed the area. Lebanon is reporting that they lost 17 soldiers, including two Lieutenant Colonels with an additional 13 missing. Lebanon also claims the situation is very serious and that the militants have been committing atrocities such as shooting civilians and looting homes. Currently the militant group controls the city.
My Comment:
The article never comes out and says it but I am guessing that this is the work of the Islamic State/ISIS. They are very active in Homs which is right across the border from this town. The only other candidates are the Al-Nursra front, which is based in the south and the FSA, which for the most part doesn't act like this. It almost has to be ISIS. If so, this is a grim development for Lebanon. They have had their own recent problems with civil war and disputes with Israel, the last thing they need is ISIS attacking everything.
The Syrian Civil war is quickly becoming a much larger regional war. Already Iraq has been dragged into the war kicking and screaming, and has been all but defeated tottally, and it looks like Lebanon is on the way as well. Iran has troops fighting against both ISIS and Bashar Al-Assad, so they are deeply involved. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel aren't involved directly yet but look for them to be dragged into the war soon as well. ISIS has pretty much declared war on civilization itself, they have no friends as far as I can tell. But they are still a force to be reckoned with and they are doing their best to set the Middle East aflame.
No comments:
Post a Comment