In Lebanon on Saturday a suicide bomber killed two soldiers and a civilian while passing through a Hezbollah checkpoint. The group claiming responsibility for this attack is called the Nusra Front, which is named after a group that is fighting against the Assad regime in Syria. The Nusra Front in Lebanon is claiming that this attack is in retaliation to the fact that Hezbollah is a supporter of the Assad regime, and regularly sends troops into Syria to fight against the rebels. The checkpoints themselves however, were put into place by Hezbollah in order to crack down on such attacks from many different militant organizations who are unhappy with Hezbollah's stance on the fighting in Syria.
Preventing security breaches like this is one of the many challenges faced by the brand new government in Beirut. However, the government is facing many internal problems, with it being polarized by the Shi'a Hezbollah and its supporters, and the the Western-backed Sunni part of the government. Unfortunately, many experts are saying that the government won't last long due to this bi-polarity and the continuation of attacks like this one may put more stress on the new government than it can handle.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/22/uk-lebanon-blast-idUKBREA1L0UF20140222
This article displays the continued ways in which the Syrian conflict continues to be complicated by outside groups and forces. Each day Syria appears to be headed down the path of Afghanistan that has made it a breeding ground of terrorism. There are now various opposition groups fighting against Assad and among each other with no true end or clear solution in sight.
ReplyDeleteIf the government fails, I wonder if there will be more peace or increased conflict? Would a civil war arise amongst the country's people over what to do? Or would it strain the governments and order of neighboring countries and lead to bigger problems? Small countries like this have started world wars in the past because they get bigger allies to begin taking sides.
ReplyDeleteI think the leader of that government should try to be less polarizing to strengthen his front against terrorism and re-polarize or whatever in peacetime.
With things like this and security issues occurring it makes sense that current government won't last long. I wonder what Lebanon will do if the government collapses? Also I am sure this will effect its relationships in the AL. Hopefully, the nation can pull together resources to increase security efforts to prevent actions like this from occurring.
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