BEIRUT: The US-led coalition on Wednesday struck buses transporting Daesh fighters who were evacuated from the Lebanese-Syrian border to eastern Syria, said coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon.
AFP quoted Dillon as saying the raid was carried out “to prevent the convoy from moving further east; we punched a crater in the road and destroyed a small bridge.”
The raid comes amid anger in Iraq over the evacuation deal between Daesh and Hezbollah, under which Daesh fighters are being transported to Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, which borders Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said: “This agreement is unacceptable, as we are fighting the terrorist group inside Iraq.” The deal is an “insult to the Iraqi people,” he added.
This sentiment was echoed by Dillon, who said: “Relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with is not a lasting solution.”
Daesh and Hezbollah had agreed that upon the arrival of the convoy in Deir Ezzor, which is under Daesh control, the terrorist group would free Ahmed Mounir Maatouq, a hostage from Hezbollah, and hand over the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Hassan Hajji.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah responded to the Iraqi condemnation by saying the agreement “was to transfer a number of Daesh fighters and their families from Syrian territories to Syrian territories, not to Iraq.”
Nasrallah added: “They are 310 defeated and conquered militants. We moved them from a battlefront we are fighting in, to another front we are also fighting in.”
Hours before the coalition raid, Lebanon’s president and military declared victory against Daesh in Operation Barrens’ Dawn.
Address the Lebanese people and announcing the end of the operation, President Michel Aoun said: “The army proved to be strong as it is the only military force that defeated Daesh, and what distinguished this battle is the high level of professionalism. Do not allow political bickering to make you forget this victory.”
After his meeting with the president, Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun told reporters: “We besieged the terrorists from three sides, and we did not let them know where they were attacked from. The element of surprise led to their collapse. We did not arrest anyone because they were either killed or fled to Syrian territories.”
Asked why Daesh fighters were allowed to withdraw instead of being arrested, the commander replied: “We had the chance to win the battle without going on with it until the end, and this a great achievement for us.”
Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, on Wednesday congratulated the Lebanese military on the operation’s success.
The Lebanese National News Agency quoted Votel as saying the US will keep supporting the Lebanese Army with weapons and equipment to develop and strengthen its capabilities.
Gen. Aoun told Votel: “American aid to the army had actively contributed to the success of the operation.”
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US-led coalition strikes convoy of Daesh evacuees from Lebanon
US-led coalition strikes convoy of Daesh evacuees from Lebanon
More than 30,000 displaced in Lebanon by Middle East war: UN
"As of Monday, more than 31,000 people were being hosted and registered at collective shelters" in Lebanon, Baloch said
Many more "slept in their cars on the side of roads, or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the south of Beirut"
GENEVA: More than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Lebanon by the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Israel is continuing to carry out air raids in Lebanon in a campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, particularly on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and the south of the country, after issuing evacuation warnings to residents.
"As of Monday, more than 31,000 people were being hosted and registered at collective shelters" in Lebanon, Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP.
At a press conference in Geneva, he said many more "slept in their cars on the side of roads, or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the south of Beirut".
Baloch said others were attempting to leave on foot with limited belongings, seeking safety in other areas as the war triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran engulfs the region.
"Heavy displacement is being reported across parts of southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and southern suburbs of Beirut, after Israel issued evacuation warnings to the residents of more than 53 Lebanese villages, and intense air strikes across all three parts of Lebanon," he said.
Baloch said that on the Lebanon-Syrian border, UNHCR had noticed an increase in regular movements, with a few hundred more Syrian refugees crossing back into Syria.
"We have a contingency plan for any possible influx from Lebanon in case things develop," he said.
- 'Nowhere else to turn' -
Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had targeted three Israeli military bases in response to Israeli strikes on the group's strongholds in Lebanon, including the south Beirut suburbs.
UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani voiced grave concern at the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon.
She cited reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, plus significant re-displacement in southern Lebanon.
"We urge both parties to immediately end this major escalation in violence and to return to the agreed ceasefire," she said.
The UN's World Food Programme said it had already begun distributing meals to people uprooted by the conflict.
"Within hours of shelters opening in Lebanon, WFP was on the ground -- providing hot meals, ready-to-eat rations, and bread to families who had nowhere else to turn," the agency's Middle East regional director Samer Abdeljaber said.
Speaking from Cairo, he said the WFP expected the number of people forced from their homes to climb "much higher".
The agency is working with the Lebanese government to get an emergency cash safety net up and running for 100,000 people, if the situation deteriorates further.
Abdeljaber said the conflict's impact on shipping and air transport were piling pressure on humanitarian supply chains.
With airspace and shipping routes choked, WFP is trying to switch to overland corridors from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Many more "slept in their cars on the side of roads, or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the south of Beirut"
GENEVA: More than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Lebanon by the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Israel is continuing to carry out air raids in Lebanon in a campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, particularly on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and the south of the country, after issuing evacuation warnings to residents.
"As of Monday, more than 31,000 people were being hosted and registered at collective shelters" in Lebanon, Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP.
At a press conference in Geneva, he said many more "slept in their cars on the side of roads, or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the south of Beirut".
Baloch said others were attempting to leave on foot with limited belongings, seeking safety in other areas as the war triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran engulfs the region.
"Heavy displacement is being reported across parts of southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and southern suburbs of Beirut, after Israel issued evacuation warnings to the residents of more than 53 Lebanese villages, and intense air strikes across all three parts of Lebanon," he said.
Baloch said that on the Lebanon-Syrian border, UNHCR had noticed an increase in regular movements, with a few hundred more Syrian refugees crossing back into Syria.
"We have a contingency plan for any possible influx from Lebanon in case things develop," he said.
- 'Nowhere else to turn' -
Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had targeted three Israeli military bases in response to Israeli strikes on the group's strongholds in Lebanon, including the south Beirut suburbs.
UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani voiced grave concern at the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon.
She cited reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, plus significant re-displacement in southern Lebanon.
"We urge both parties to immediately end this major escalation in violence and to return to the agreed ceasefire," she said.
The UN's World Food Programme said it had already begun distributing meals to people uprooted by the conflict.
"Within hours of shelters opening in Lebanon, WFP was on the ground -- providing hot meals, ready-to-eat rations, and bread to families who had nowhere else to turn," the agency's Middle East regional director Samer Abdeljaber said.
Speaking from Cairo, he said the WFP expected the number of people forced from their homes to climb "much higher".
The agency is working with the Lebanese government to get an emergency cash safety net up and running for 100,000 people, if the situation deteriorates further.
Abdeljaber said the conflict's impact on shipping and air transport were piling pressure on humanitarian supply chains.
With airspace and shipping routes choked, WFP is trying to switch to overland corridors from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
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