Lebanon fears Syrian gunmen opening new front in south: sources

Lebanon fears that militants of the al-Qaeda linked group, the al-Nusra Front, would open a new front in southern Lebanon for cross-border attacks from their positions in southern Syria, a military source said on Thursday.

"Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) gunmen (who are) opposing the Syrian regime, have succeeded in taking over the positions" near the Mount Hermon along the Lebanon-Syria borders, which were "previously held by the Syrian military," the source said.

That led to a rising fear among the Lebanese authorities, particularly with the arrival of the winter and snow season, which would oblige the militants to look for better shelters other than the mountainous regions, and southern Lebanon seems to be in their spotlight, the source said on condition of anonymity.

A front in south Lebanon with Syria would be "essentially against Hezbollah that holds military bases in the region," as " the new front would keep Hezbollah fighters busy and would limit their actions against Israel."

As for Israel's reaction in such a case, well informed sources in south Lebanon told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that they expect Israeli support to the fundamentalist gunmen to cross the Mount Hermon heights from Syria to the hills overlooking Shebaa and the Hasbaya and Arkoub region in south Lebanon.

The Lebanese military, for its part, is considering the scenario of the Syrian crisis spreading to the southern parts of Lebanon, and has thus devised a plan based on their experience from the confrontation with the al-Nusra and the IS in the eastern border town of Arsal in August.

A Lebanese military source told Xinhua that the plan may include "creating tens of new positions all along the border line with Syria in Mount Hermon, including observation points and erecting sand barriers and heavy artillery positions."

The source added that the army has "dispatched tanks and armored personnel carriers and is patrolling the area and ambushing the possible infiltrating gunmen," as well as strictly limiting the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon. Enditem