Jihadists target Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon’s Bekaa
Gunmen from the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra have exploited Eid al-Adha to attack Hezbollah in a new location in the center of Lebanon’s border with Syria.
![Lebanon's Hezbollah members carry the coffins of two of their comrades, who were killed in clashes with fighters from the Nusra Front in eastern Lebanon, during their funeral in Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley Lebanon's Hezbollah members carry the coffins of two of their comrades, who were killed in clashes with fighters from the Nusra Front in eastern Lebanon, during their funeral in Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley October 6, 2014. Ten fighters from Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah group were killed in clashes with fighters from al-Qaeda's Syrian wing in eastern Lebanon on Sunday, a source close to the group said on Monday. The Qaeda fighters, who see Hezbollah as among their chief foes, attacked a large area stretching](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2014/10/RTR4950M.jpg/RTR4950M.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=p4z_2Awy)
On the afternoon of Oct. 5, pitched battles took place between militants of the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nusra and the Lebanese army and Hezbollah fighters in the center of Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria.
The battle began after Sunni fundamentalist gunmen tried to cross from Arsal’s barren lands, at the northeast corner of Lebanon, in a southerly direction toward the center. The new site of clashes is a densely populated Shiite area, adjacent to Brital and close to Baalbek, both considered Hezbollah strongholds.