The latest clashes on Lebanon’s border with Syria in Arsal, between the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nusra on the one hand and the Lebanese army on the other, combined with a number of other security incidents, constitute a new escalation in the Land of the Cedar, increasingly identified — along with Syria and Iraq — as another “land of jihad” by extremist organizations.
The power of al-Qaeda like-minded groups seems to be mounting in Lebanon: The country was rocked by border clashes — more specifically in the Sunni majority city of Arsal — as well as multiple bombings this year. Earlier this month, Imad Jomaa, commander of the Fajr Front — an organization that pledged allegiance to IS — whose arrest led to a confrontation with the Lebanese army, said the organization aimed to establish an "emirate" straddling northern and eastern regions connected to Syria's Qalamoun, according to a report by the LBC news network.
