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BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanese troops on Saturday killed two Islamist militants including a head of an Al-Qaeda-inspired group which fought a battle with the army in 2007 that cost hundreds of lives, a military spokesman said. "Abdel Rahman Awad, one of the key leaders of Fatah al-Islam," was killed along with another militant known as Abu Bakr during clashes in the eastern Bekaa Valley region, the spokesman told AFP. A judicial source said Abu Bakr was Awad's key deputy who provided military training to members of Fatah al-Islam, a shadowy group said to be inspired by Al-Qaeda. In 2007, Fatah...

SNIPPET: "Police are working to figure out the origin of the rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip Saturday evening and exploded near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, without causing damage or injures. A total of four rockets and two mortar shells were fired at Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries. An initial examination revealed that the rocket fired at Nahal Oz was manufactured using professional means, most likely outside of the borders of the Gaza Strip. The rocket had a diameter of 115 millimeters, and police sappers were working to locate fragments of it to be tested."

The United States continues to supply weapons and other security systems to Lebanon's security forces amid rising tensions with Israel and despite concerns in Congress that Hizbullah holds the Beirut government in check. The U.S. government has delivered light weapons, body armor and bomb equipment to Lebanese security forces. This marked the third transfer of military and security equipment to Lebanon in as many months. The U.S. supply has been taking place as Beirut's military has escalated attacks on Israeli fighter-jets on reconnaissance missions in southern Lebanon.Leading members of Congress have expressed concern over the U.S. funding of Lebanon's military...

Lebanon expects to receive additional U.S. assistance to develop its military and security forces. Lebanese officials said the United States has pledged to lead an international effort to bolster Beirut's military and security forces. They said U.S. weapons began to flow to Lebanon in 2010 and could intensify over the next few months. "The U.S. military is convinced that the Lebanese army is capable of controlling stability in Lebanon," Ghassan Al Shibli, a researcher at the Washington-based Rand Corp., said. Officials said the Obama administration has concluded that U.S. aid should not be blocked by Hizbullah's domination of the government...

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"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

Lebanese anti-aircraft guns opened fire on two Israeli warplanes that were violating its airspace at medium altitude on Sunday, the military said. "The army's anti-aircraft guns fired at two Israeli warplanes overflying Hasbaya" in southeastern Lebanon, an army statement said. The incident came amid rising regional tension and heightened concern in Lebanon over recent Israeli threats against Shiite militant party Hezbollah and its backers Syria and Iran. Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in the summer of 2006 which destroyed much of southern Lebanon and killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and close to 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers....

Lebanese anti-aircraft guns opened fire on four Israeli fighter planes which were violating its air space and flying at low altitude on Monday, the military said. "The army's anti-aircraft guns fired at four enemy Israeli planes that had been overflying the (southern) area of Marjayoun this morning," an army spokesman said on condition of anonymity. A media correspondent in southern Lebanon said about 70 rounds had targeted four Israeli planes. While Lebanon's army publishes almost daily reports of Israeli violations of Lebanese air space, the military rarely opens fire unless the planes fly within range of its guns. The Israeli...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Seven al-Qaida-inspired guerrillas surrendered Tuesday to a secular Palestinian faction at a besieged refugee camp in northern Lebanon, offering the first tangible sign that moderate Palestinians might be moving against the militants. But others in the extremist group Fatah Islam continued to fight, and Lebanese government troops battered their hideouts in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp for a fifth straight day. Clouds of smoke billowed over the camp as artillery shells exploded on militant positions. Calm held at Lebanon's biggest Palestinian refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh in the south, where Islamic extremists sympathetic to Fatah Islam clashed with...

It seems that the Lebanese army is starting to inspect and neutralize all of the unexploded artillery and other ordinance that Shamnesty is so worried about. This photograph is rather odd, though. It's extremely grainy, due to high levels of jpeg compression, but it purports to be two members of the Lebanese Army inspecting an unexploded missile. What's odd is that the object they're studying doesn't readily appear to be a missile to me—Could it be an external fuel tank? Some other piece of artillery? Humpback whale? Beats me. As usual, if you have exceptional eyesight and vast stores of...

Excerpt - Beirut, 23 August (AKI) - Around 2,000 Lebanese army troops have taken up positions along Lebanon's border with Syria where they will carry out controls aimed at curbing arms smuggling, Lebanese defence minister Illyas al-Murr announced on Wednesday. Lebanon has set up some 62 border surveillance posts - from al-Arida to al-Ubudiya - with the aim of curbing the smuggling of weapons and people from Syria. According to Lebanese military sources the troops have been equipped with light and medium calibre weapons and have received "categorical orders", to prevent any attempt to cross the border illegally. ~ snip...

ALARM - the Lebanese army on the border with Israel for the first time since 1975 BEIRUT - the Lebanese army has been installed Saturday for the first time for 30 years on the border with Israel by giving an opinion with the "Door of Fatima", in the south-east of the country, affirmed with AFP the General Charles Chikhani, ordering 10è brigade of infantry.

KFAR KILA, Lebanon - The Lebanese army reached the country's southern border with Israel for the first time in decades Friday, sending a lone jeep on patrol through Kfar Kila, a battered stronghold of support for Hezbollah militants. Italy became the latest nation to agree to provide troops for a stronger U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, but it didn't say how many, underlining the slowness of efforts to beef up the mission. Finland said it would send 250 soldiers in a few months. U.N. officials said nearly all the Lebanese who fled the month of fighting between Hezbollah and...

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A video showing Lebanese soldiers cordially offering Israeli troops glasses of tea during the military offensive earlier this month has hit Israeli and Hezbollah airwaves. The video, shot by Israelis on August 10, when Israeli troops "took control" of the southern Lebanese town of Marjeyoun, aired on Israel's Channel 2 on Wednesday. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV network and pro-Hezbollah NEW TV then picked up the video and condemned the Lebanese soldiers as deserters

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops began deploying south of the strategic Litani River early Thursday, a senior military official said, after the Israeli army stepped up its withdrawal from the south Lebanon region and handed over some of its positions to U.N. peacekeepers. The rapid developments aimed at ending 34 days of fighting came after Lebanon's government agreed Wednesday to deploy troops near Israel's border for the first time in 40 years. A senior official in the Lebanese army told The Associated Press around dawn Thursday that Lebanese troops, backed by tanks and other armored vehicles, had begun arriving south...

top Lebanese government official said Wednesday evening that the Cabinet had approved a plan to deploy the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) south of the Litani River starting Thursday. The twice-delayed meeting approved sending the army to the south of the country, where it will slowly take over territory from which IDF forces have begun to withdraw. WAR IN THE NORTH: THE AFTERMATH Blog: Lone soldier writes about his combat in Lebanon Analysis: Unworthy of command? Tank hits not as bad as it seemed Editorial: Fight for the peace Prepare for the next round, by Ephraim Inbar Many Arabs, sadly, see...

Israel starts pullback Tue Aug 15, 2006 08:09 AM ET By Lin Noueihed BEIRUT (Reuters) - Thousands of refugees headed home to south Lebanon on Tuesday as a U.N. truce between Israel and Hizbollah held for a second day and Israeli forces began pulling back from some positions they had occupied. The Israeli army, which had poured 30,000 troops into the south to fight Hizbollah guerrillas, plans to start handing over some pockets of territory to U.N. troops in a day or two, Israeli officials and Western diplomats said. Israel's expedited timetable for withdrawing reflects concerns that its forces on...

Israel's war with Hizbullah seemed to come to an end on Monday, the first day of quiet after a UN-brokered cease-fire went into effect at 8 a.m. following more than a month of fighting. Senior officers told The Jerusalem Post the IDF planned to begin withdrawing troops from Lebanon by the end of the week and to begin releasing thousands of reservists back to their homes. On Monday, high-ranking IDF officers met with officials from UNIFIL at the Rosh Hanikra crossing and discussed the planned handover of southern Lebanon to the multinational force - made up of an upgraded UNIFIL...

Excerpt - PARIS (AP)--Lebanon's communications minister told French radio Monday that the Lebanese army was preparing to cross the Litani River into the troubled south within two or three days, despite uncertainty about a future U.N. force for the region. "The Lebanese army is readying itself along the Litani to cross the river in 48 or 72 hours," Marwan Hamade said on Europe-1 radio. It will then be flanked by "the first contingents of an international force," he added, likely from France, Turkey, Spain and Italy. He didn't give a timeframe. ~ snip ~

I must admit that I did not know the Lebanese "army" could field 15,000 people and was under the impression that their military was less than 10,000 "fighting" personnel.Thus when they offered 15,000 individuals to the UN as part of the monitoring force, my mind wondered whether this would include several thousand Hezbollah (or even Syrian or Iranian fighters) being given Lebanese military uniforms and thus have free movement back and forth and "at will" access into the "off limits" or restricted areas of South Lebanon. Similary, if the Lebanese military arrives with a thousand extra uniforms, they can dress...