|
ISIS, al-Qaeda group fighting near Lebanese border
 ARA NewsBEIRUT – A new surge of violence hit the Lebanese district of Arsal near the Syrian border, as heavy clashes broke out on Tuesday between Islamic State (ISIS) militants and the al-Qaeda splinter group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. ISIS initiated the clashes by attacking a checkpoint for the Fateh al-Sham in the Malahi neighbourhood of Arsal, using mortar shells. Scores of Fateh al-Sham fighters were killed in the attack, and ISIS eventually took over the checkpoint, local sources reported on Tuesday. “Fateh al-Sham fighters responded by storming an ISIS security checkpoint in the al-Shir district near the Arsal border heights,” a media source close to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham told ARA News. At least 15 ISIS militants were killed at the hands of Fateh al-Sham fighters, before the group took over the ISIS security checkpoint in al-Shir. Both ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham [previously al-Nusra Front] hold positions in the Arsal region and al-Qaa heights near the Lebanese-Syrian border. In August 2014, ISIS militants attacked a Lebanese Army base and took dozens of soldiers as hostages, nine of them are still held by the militant group. Reporting by: Sameer al-Dawood | Source: ARA News More from al-Manar Heavy clashes erupted Tuesday in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal between ‘jihadists’ from the rival ISIL and Fateh al-Sham (Nusra Front) groups, state-run National News Agency reported. Several militants from both sides were killed and wounded in the fighting, NNA said. It later reported that the clashes had spread across the outskirts to reach the Sahlat al-Ajram area as Fateh al-Sham fighters seized control of an ISIL checkpoint in the al-Shir region. The Lebanese army meanwhile fired heavy artillery from its posts in north Bekaa at movements by the militants in the Khirbet Younin, Sahlat al-Ajram and Wadi al-Khayl areas. Source: Websites Posted by: badanov 2016-10-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=469369 |