- Refugees poured out of border town Arsal, heading back to war-torn home
- Follows incursions by Islamic forces into Lebanon over the past week
- Troops took Arsal, but were forced back by Lebanese army on Thursday
Refugees
taking shelter in Lebanon from violent jihadists have turned around and
headed back into war-torn Syria after insurgents launched repeated
attacks across the border.
The
fleeing victims of the Syrian civil war were seen yesterday at the
border town of Arsal, picking through the remains of a refugee camp
which Islamist fighters burned to the ground.
Having
previously thought of Lebanon as a relatively safe haven from the
long-running civil war between Syria dictator Bashar Assad and hard-line
Muslim forces in the country, the Syrian victims found themselves in
the firing line earlier this week after new attacks.
Fleeing: Syrian refugees gather their effects and head back to their homeland after jihadists made incursions into Lebanon
Driving away: The convoy of cars and
vans is pictured waiting in Arsal, which was captured by the jihadists
last week before being won back by Lebanese forces
Razed: The Arsal refugee camp, pictured, was burned down by the invading militants
Lives destroyed, again: Children look on at the damaged remains of the tents where they had lived
Collateral: In the background
surviving tents can be seen, but the damage was too much for the
refugees, who made the decision to head back to Syria
Today a new wave of Jihadists attacked the village of Kfar Qouq, but were forced back by armed locals.
Some
of the fighters are thought to be members of the Islamic State (IS)
group, despite their strongholds being hundreds of miles away in the
north-east of Syria and parts of Iraq.
Lebanese security sources said the jihadist forces had also been under attack from Syrian government forces that day.
Kfar
Qouq is near the Bekaa Valley town of Rashaya, 60 miles south of Arsal,
which was seized a week ago by Islamist militants who crossed from
Syria. That incursion was the most serious spillover yet of Syria's
three-year-long civil war into Lebanon.
On the way out: This car, lined up with other traffic on the road out of Arsal, was damaged in the fighting
Queues: Syrians have loaded everything they can carry onto trucks and into smaller cars for their ride home
Dozens
of people were killed in five days of fighting between the army and the
militants who included Islamists affiliated to the Islamic State, which
has seized territory in Syria and Iraq.
The militants pulled out of Arsal to the mountainous border zone on Thursday, taking with them 19 captive soldiers.
Militant sources said on Friday that they sought to exchange them for Islamists held in Lebanese jails.
Two commanders close to the group said the demands had been sent to the Lebanese government and army
Loaded up: Refugees are seen here in the Lebanese village of Labweh in the Bekaa Valley on their way to Syria
Crammed in: Dozens of refugees pile into one truck, seen here between checkpoints by the Syrian border
Hurt: Injured Syrians are seen inside a van. They hope to be safer inside their own country
The
militants withdrew from Arsal into the mountainous border region after a
battle in which dozens of people were killed, including 17 soldiers.
The
militants said their list of Islamist prisoners they want released
included Emad Gomaa, whose arrest last Saturday sparked the incursion
into Arsal. The army has said the attack by the Islamists had been
long-planned.
Gomaa
had been a commander in the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in the
Syrian civil war, but he switched affiliation to the Islamic State in
the weeks before his arrest.
Reprisals: Members of the Lebanese army patrol near Arsal earlier this week
Damage: This army building in Arsal was damaged by jihadist gunfire in an attack this week
The
militants are also seeking the release of other Islamists jailed since a
2007 insurrection by an al Qaeda-inspired group at a Palestinian
refugee camp in north Lebanon.
Last
month, the Nusra Front issued a statement promising to secure the
release of Islamist detainees being held at Roumieh prison, northeast of
Beirut.
'This
has taken a long time and the government does not seem to be willing to
listen or understand. Maybe this time they will,' said the second
militant source. 'We have nothing to lose now, we have lost people and
our people are refugees again so there is nothing more to lose.'
An army patrol entered Arsal town on Friday for the first time since the militants pulled out, a security source said.
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