BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk Saturday praised Army commander Jean Kahwagi for a "timely decision" to oust Islamist militants out of two strategic positions along Lebanon’s border with Syria.
In remarks published in As-Safir, Machnouk said that “had it not been for the courage of the Army commander, than this achievement would not have taken place.”
The interior minister's comments came two days after Lebanese troops drove Islamist militants out of two strategic hilltop outposts on the outskirts of the northeastern Bekaa town of Ras Baalbek in a preemptive strike aimed at fending off jihadis holed up in the rugged border area with Syria.