BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, on Friday reaffirmed that responsibility for the protection of southern Lebanon rests solely with the Lebanese army.
He was speaking during a visit to Benoit Barakat Barracks in Tyre, the army’s headquarters in the Southern Litani Sector, the night before Lebanon’s Independence Day, and just hours before a televised speech to the nation.
“The army, which protects southerners as well as all Lebanese, remains steadfast in its positions and commitment to defending national dignity, sovereignty and independence,” he said during the visit.
Aoun commended the army’s role south of the Litani River in implementing the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and honored “the memory of the 12 martyred soldiers who have been killed since the implementation of the security plan to establish a state monopoly over weapons.”
He stressed that the army was “undeterred by the smear campaigns, doubts and incitement to which it is sometimes subjected.”
