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Lebanese army struggles for financing

Without a proper budget and new weapons procurement, the Lebanese army faces an uphill struggle in combating terrorism and securing the country. Why then have recent international donations not materialized?
Lebanese army soldiers gesture while riding on an armoured vehicle as they exit the Sunni Muslim border town of Arsal, in eastern Bekaa Valley August 28, 2014. Gunmen killed at least one Lebanese soldier on Thursday when they attacked an army post at the border with Syria on Thursday near a town seized by Islamist insurgents earlier this month, a security source said. Three soldiers were wounded in the clash in the mountainous border zone just outside the town of Arsal, which was held for five days by milit
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BEIRUT, Lebanon — While the Lebanese army continues to perform its multiple duties on several fronts, its challenges persist due to both financial and political reasons. But the result is one and the same — threatening Lebanon’s stability at this critical stage.

When speaking about the open fronts against the army, three of them can be highlighted. First, there is the Lebanese southern front along the Lebanese-Israeli border. In the wake of the July 2006 war that broke out between the Israeli army and Hezbollah militants and ended with the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the army had to support the UN forces deployed in the region with no less than three fighting brigades to maintain security and impose the state’s sovereignty.

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