Lebanon is buckling under the strain of Syria’s war

The difficulty of hosting so many refugees from the conflict has been apparent for years in Lebanon, but in the past few days a stand-off has developed between militant fighters and the Lebanese army in the town of Arsal. The gunmen, also a combined force from IS and the Nusra Front, have captured 27 members of the Lebanese security forces there, and more than 40 people are thought to have died in the fighting. They attacked Arsal from across the nearby Syrian border, apparently because they consider the Lebanese security forces to be hostile. While there have been many previous occasions since the Syrian conflict began on which people have feared for the stability of Lebanon, with its fragile balance of ethnic groups, the siege in Arsal is worrying many. [Link]