BEIRUT — Lebanon suffered its first casualties from a massive operation to drive the Islamic State group from an area along the Syrian border on yesterday when a roadside bomb killed three soldiers.
The deaths came a day after the US-backed army launched its biggest military operation yet against IS, which gained a foothold along the tiny Mediterranean country's border with Syria in 2014.
On yesterday, the Lebanese Armed Forces pressed their offensive in a mountainous region bordering Syria, capturing new hills from IS. A bomb struck one of the advancing armored vehicles, killing the three soldiers, a military official said.
The official said troops captured several hills on the outskirts of the Lebanese village of Ras Baalbek, adding that army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun visited areas regained from the extremists.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Simultaneously, the Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, are pushing to clear IS militants from the Syrian side of the border, in the western Qalamoun mountain range. Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's forces since 2013.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV meanwhile reported that Syrian warplanes carried out their most intense airstrikes yesterday since the operations against the extremists began.
Bomb planted by IS kills 3 Lebanese soldiers
Brig. Gen. Ali Qanso, chief military spokesman, speaks during a press conference at the Lebanese Defense Ministry in Yarzeh near Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017. Lebanon's U.S.-backed army launched operations against Islamic State group positions inside the country on Saturday, to start the most serious engagement with the militants since they found a foothold here in 2014. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)