By Paul Wood
BBC
1 December 2014
The Lebanese army’s Brig Gen Ali Mourad got a WhatsApp message from the Islamic State (IS). It was short and to the point. “We are the heroes of Qalamoun,” it said, referring to the mountains on Syria’s border with Lebanon, “and we’re going to kill you.”
Gen Mourad has a robust attitude to this threat.
“We want them to come, these terrorists,” he told me, at one of the heavily fortified positions paid for by the British government.
“We are waiting for them [here].
“When we see them, we shoot them, all the time.”
We were at Tango Ten, the 10th of 12 new posts built so far with UK money and expertise along Lebanon’s border with Syria. It looked down over a dusty plain to the snow-covered mountain that is controlled by various jihadist groups and used by them as a base to launch attacks.
The Lebanese soldiers at Tango Ten say they come under fire almost every night. They used to crouch behind a few tyres filled with concrete, “eyes like saucers, gripping the 50-cal [heavy machine gun,” said one of the former British army officers advising the Lebanese. Now they have proper defences, and morale is good.
Tango Ten had shades of Northern Ireland in the guard tower and Afghanistan in the Hesco barriers – which are earth-filled defensive walls. There was even a fleet of Land Rovers parked inside.
The UK has spent some £20m to stop the jihadists from invading Lebanon. Continue reading “Islamic State crisis: UK gives £20m to keep Lebanon safe”