Over the last two days, the Lebanese army has been facing its most serious challenge as a military institution since May 2007. The Lebanese government is now facing the difficult test that it has been anticipating since the outbreak of the Syria crisis in March 2011.

Violent clashes broke out in Arsal between Lebanese army units and armed supporters of the Syrian opposition in the early afternoon of Aug. 2. Arsal, a town in the eastern Bekaa Valley, lies along the Syrian border.

The clashes were triggered when the army arrested a Syrian gunman named Imad Ahmed Jumaa on suspicion of being an official of the pro-al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra. Immediately after the arrest, gunmen clashed with army soldiers in the area, breaking into the center of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Arsal. Within a few hours, the fighting spread to include Jurud Arsal, the rugged outskirts of Arsal, and the surrounding areas. Dozens were killed and injured, including, as of writing this, 10 dead and 25 wounded soldiers, and 13 soldiers who are missing. Also, an unspecified number of ISF troops were kidnapped and taken to areas controlled by Sunni fundamentalist gunmen on the Syrian side of the border.

Although the incident happened near the border, the rest of Lebanon remains worried about what might happen next, for this is not an isolated incident. It is linked to a number of other serious events, including a number of hot spots in Lebanon where the Sunni fundamentalist gunmen have spread.