MUSLIMS NOW TRAINING CHRISTIAN MILITIAS IN LEBANON

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN

MUSLIMS NOW TRAINING CHRISTIAN MILITIAS

'The only people who are protecting us are the resistance of Hezbollah'

F. Michael Maloof

WASHINGTON – Facing the possibility of attacks from the Islamic State, Christian villages in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon are forming militias, and they are being trained by the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, a new report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin intelligence report confirms.

Informed Lebanese sources told G2 that serious ISIS attacks are expected as Hezbollah already has begun to engage fighters of the Islamic State, or ISIS, and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra Front in the Syrian Qalamoun mountains opposite those villages in central and eastern Bekaa.

Alarmed by the Sunni jihadists from Syria, Hezbollah not only is training Christian militias but is setting up those that are operational in positions beside Hezbollah fighters, the sources report.

“The Qalamoun battle is coming,” said Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem,

He said the battle is about protecting Lebanese villages.

For now, the Lebanese army has been thwarting attacks in the region around the Christian town of Ras Baalbek, which has some 8,500 residents and is only about 25 miles from the historic Roman city of Baalbek.

There have been attacks around Baalbek and near Britel in areas controlled by the Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah but, to date, the Sunni jihadist attacks have been unsuccessful.

For the complete report, go to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Deep in Shia-controlled territory, Baalbek, which is believed to date back 9,000 years, has withstood centuries of attacks from barbarians, the Greeks and the Romans. The city once was given as a gift by the Roman general Marcus Antonius – Marc Antony – to his lover, the Egyptian queen.

Ras Baalbek, in the northern part of the Bekaa Valley, is in a Christian region of the country. Nusra and ISIS seek to target it as a stepping stone to other ancient Christian towns in central Bekaa such as Zahle, Firzel, Ablah and Drous.

One Lebanese source told G2 he is confident ISIS “will not be able to do more than hit and run operations.”

In the predominantly Christian region, Islamist fighters have threatened to attack churches and the Christians themselves. In response, the residents are taking up arms.

“If Hezbollah did not exist, it would have been necessary to create it,” said Albert Mansour, a former government minister who is a resident of Ras Baalbek. “The party’s existence makes the people – including Sunnis, Shiites and Christians of the region – feel safe in the face of this strange formation,” referring to the presence of the Sunni jihadist fighters.

“In fact, the Christians of Ras Baalbek and the Iranian-backed militants are downright friendly to each other,” Alessandria Masi of International Business Times said.

Estimates of heavily armed ISIS and Nusra fighters ready to pounce on Christian towns in the area vary from 4,500 to 6,000.

For the complete report, go to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/muslims-now-training-christian-militias/#c4fY8dXEOWRz95Ir.99