Lebanon has rejected the idea of cooperating with the Syrian government against ISIS, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said.
“The Lebanese government has received advice to [help] cooperate with the Syrian regime in its fight against extremist militants spread on the highlands of the border town of Arsal,” Machnouk said in remarks published Monday.
“The Lebanese government rejected this advice,” he told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.
Machnouk warned that a new round of clashes could be sparked with the beginning of winter, as militants would be forced to return to Syria.
He said that Hezbollah “hopes the Lebanese army will take over the task of removing the militants from Arsal and its outskirts, so they could focus on building a line of defense along the eastern Lebanese border to stop ISIS’ expansion."
The Lebanese army fought five days of deadly gunbattles with extremist militants affiliated with ISIS and Nusra Front in Arsal last month.
