The commander of the Lebanese army, General Joseph Aoun, said that the army is "doing its utmost to prevent smuggling and illegal crossing of refugees from the Syrian border", and noted that the situation on the border with Syria "warns of the worst coming soon".
In his speech, while declaring the areas of Arsal and Ras al-Babak free from the remnants of the war, Aoun explained that "our deployment here along the border (with Syria) is subject to many difficulties, either because of the nature of the geographical area or the lack of sufficient personnel (cadres)", adding that The Lebanese army soldiers "do their best to protect the borders and prevent smuggling and illegal passage of refugees".
The commander of the Lebanese army called "for anyone who doubts in his heart about the army's performance, he is invited to visit the border and see on the ground the situation that portends that the worst is yet to come", demanding an end to the "false accusations" against the Lebanese army.
The day before yesterday, Thursday, the Lebanese army announced that within a week it had foiled an illegal infiltration attempt by about 1,200 Syrians who wanted to reach Lebanon.
In a statement from the Lebanese army, it was stated that "as part of the fight against smuggling and illegal infiltration, army units, on various dates during the past week, thwarted an infiltration attempt by about 1,200 Syrians at the Lebanon-Syria border."
Last week, the Lebanese army announced that it thwarted an attempt by 850 Syrians to illegally cross the border from Syria.