The Lebanese army entered the third and most difficult phase against ISIS terrorist group, in the battle of “Fajr-al-jouroud” and after having regained control of 80% of the outskirts of the Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa area.
Nevertheless,Brigadier General Ali Qansu, Director of Guidance in the Army Command, said:”We are facing our toughest battle yet.”
The reasons behind such difficulties, Al-Anbaa newspaper reported, is the tightening grip on ISIS by the Lebanese army, which has reduced the area of ISIS’s deployment and closed the few remaining supply routes of food and ammunition, forcing many retreated terrorists to shave their beards and join their displaced families in al-Qaa area, which is a reflection of their dire situation.
According to the latest estimates, there are no more than 400 armed men stationed in the area of their main command center in the “Cave Grotto,” where their central operations room and weapons depot are located, as well as another fortified grotto that the army continues to pound with artillery, after helicopter missiles were unable destroy their entrances.
In this context, a military source told the Kuwaiti newspaper that the “Lebanese army has transferred tanks and guns to the front of the battlefield, and fortified the liberated areas in order to prepare for the attack through its special combat unit regiments due to the difficult nature of the rocky terrain.”
“This special regiment will use new methods and tactics that will surprise the observers, and which has impressed foreign countries so far.”
Hala Hayek Najjar
