The Lebanese army said it will continue extending its sovereignty over all Lebanon [Getty/file photo]
The Lebanese army on Saturday announced that it had taken control of three strategic bases in eastern Lebanon, previously held by armed Palestinian factions that had close ties to the former Syrian regime.
It comes less than two weeks after Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted following a lighting rebel offensive.
In a statement, the Lebanese army said its forces took over bases that had belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) in the villages of Sultan Yaaqoub and Hechmech in the Beqaa governorate.
The army also took over a camp that had belonged to the Fatah al-Intifada organisation in the village of Halwah in the Beqaa region’s Rachaya district, announcing that it confiscated weapons and ammunition and other military equipment.
Lebanon’s L’Orient Today news site said armed personnel from the groups vacated the bases and reportedly headed to an undisclosed location, adding that the army inspected the sites after taking them, including tunnels.
“The army continues to take over military centres that were occupied by Palestinian organisations inside Lebanese territory, within the framework of maintaining security and stability and extending state authority in various regions,” the army’s statement concluded.
A video shared by local broadcaster LBCI shows Lebanese soldiers raising the Lebanese and Lebanese army flags at the PFLP-GC site confiscated in Hechmech, very close to the Syrian border.
Founded in 1968, the PFLP-GC was based in the Yarmouk camp in the Syrian capital and had close ties to the Baath regime. It played an active role during the Lebanese 1975-1990 Civil War like other Palestinian militias.
The PFLP-GC’s largest and now only remaining base in Lebanon is in Naameh, a coastal town south of Beirut.
But earlier this year, that base was also partly handed over to the Lebanese army following negotiations with the Palestinian faction.
Fatah al-Intifada was founded in 1983 after splitting from the Palestinian Fatah Movement and was also supportive of Assad and his regime.