Lebanese army, Hezbollah declare offensives on Islamic State at Syrian border
The Lebanese army launched an offensive on Saturday against an Islamic State enclave on the northeast border with Syria as Hezbollah simultaneously announced an assault on the militants from the Syrian side of the border.
The Lebanese army was targeting Islamic State positions near the town of Ras Baalbek with rockets, artillery and helicopters, a Lebanese security source said. The area is the last part of the Lebanese-Syrian frontier under insurgent control.
The operation by Hezbollah and the Syrian army was aimed at Islamic State militants in the western Qalamoun region of Syria, Hezbollah said, an area across the frontier from Ras Baalbek.
A Hezbollah statement said the group was meeting its pledge to "remove the terrorist threat at the borders of the nation" and was fighting "side by side" with the Syrian army. It made no mention of the Lebanese army operation.
