Lebanon seeks Saudi-French aid to battle Arsal militants

Lebanon's army chief on Tuesday urged France to speed up promised weapons supplies, as his troops battled militants on the Syrian border for a fourth day.

With tensions also rising in northern Lebanon, where clashes killed a child and wounded 11 other people, including seven soldiers, France stepped in with a pledge of a "quick" response.

Saudi Arabia, which is financing the French arms purchases for Lebanon's army, also said it would work to accelerate implementation of the deal.

On the ground in the Arsal region of eastern Lebanon, three policemen capyured hostage by militants were freed but artillery fire resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a relative lull.

Speaking to AFP, Lebanon's army chief General Jean Kahwaji said the military was being hamstrung in its fight against the militants.

"This battle requires equipment, materiel and technology that the army doesn't have," Kahwaji said.

"That's why we need to speed up the delivery of the necessary military aid by finalising the list of weapons requested from France under a Saudi-financed deal."

Last December, Riyadh agreed to finance a $3 billion package of French military equipment and arms for Lebanon's army.

And in mid-June, at a conference in Rome, a number of countries pledged its backing for the Lebanese military.

Details of what material will be furnished have yet to be finalised.

France's deputy foreign ministry spokesman, Vincent Floreani, on Tuesday insisted Paris stood behind the Lebanese army.

"France is fully committed to supporting the Lebanese army, a pillar of stability and unity in Lebanon," he said.

"We are in close contact with our partners to quickly meet Lebanon's needs."

Saudi support for Lebanese military

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, meanwhile, expressed his oil-rich state's support for the Lebanese military in a phone call with Lebanon's former president Michel Sleiman.

The king "expressed his country's support for and position alongside the military establishment in the face of terrorism," Sleiman's office said.

He had also "stressed his determination to speed up the implementation of support for the Lebanese army," under the Saudi-financed deal.

Sleiman finished his term in office earlier this year, but consensus has yet to be reached on his successor.

The fighting in Arsal is the worst violence to hit the volatile border region since the 2011 outbreak of the armed uprising in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad.

Lebanon is hosting one million Syrian refugees, and despite an official policy of neutrality towards the conflict in its larger neighbour, it has regularly seen the fighting spill over.

In a sign of the dangers, clashes erupted in parts of the northern port city of Tripoli overnight and into Tuesday morning.

Gunmen in the Bab el-Tebbaneh district clashed with soldiers.

The fighting killed a 12-year-old girl and injured 11 other people, seven of them soldiers hurt when gunmen fired on their bus.

Hezbollah involvement

There were also reports of the involvement of Hezbollah fighters in the conflict.

“Both the Syrian refugee camps in Arsal and the homes of local residents have been hit by random shelling from Hezbollah-controlled areas and by the Army’s targeting of the militants,” Kamel Kozbar, a Saida municipality representative, told MEE on Monday.

“Six refugee camps have been completely burned down while nine others have been severely damaged by the shelling,” declared a statement released by the Union of Relief and Development Associations in Lebanon.

The Arsal violence has left 16 soldiers dead and 85 wounded, while dozens of militants are said to have been killed, along with three civilians.

Another 22 soldiers are missing, possibly having been captured by militants.

The militants have also detained 20 policemen, three of whom were freed on Tuesday afternoon, police sources said.

The releases were reportedly part of negotiations for a ceasefire, but shelling resumed after they were freed.

The fighting started Saturday after the arrest of a Syrian man who the army said had confessed to being a member of Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate battling Assad's forces.

Lebanon has been hard hit by the war in neighbouring Syria, witnessing a surge in Sunni militant attacks in the past months in response to the participation of the Shiite Hezbollah movement in the Syrian war alongside Assad's forces.