by dailystar.com.lb Hanan Khaled| The Daily Star

Lebanese politicians Monday denounced the quadruple suicide attack
that killed at least six people and wounded 19 in a northeastern Lebanon
border town at dawn, expressing solidarity with its residents. Four Lebanese soldiers were among the wounded in the suspected ISIS bombings in the predominately Christian village of Al-Qaa.

“Once
again the hand of evil and disloyalty extends to Lebanon by targeting
innocent civilians,” Defense Minister Samir Moqbel said in a statement. He
emphasized that all security agencies in Lebanon “are ready to stand
united to defend the land of the nation, to confront the terrorists and
to pursue and foil their plans to ignite sedition in the country.”

Foreign
Minister Gebran Bassil told reporters after he inspected the site of
the attacks that the village has been “defending Lebanon for the past
few years… Al-Qaa has been repelling terror attacks targeting the
country.” Bassil warned that the threats posed by the attack
shouldn’t be leniently addressed, citing previous reports that
extremists are seeking to reach Lebanon’s coastal areas to target other
countries.

“Lebanon is defending the world similarly to how Al-Qaa is defending Lebanon,” he added.

ISIS
has been seeking to declare an Islamic emirate in Lebanon to serve as a
geographical extension of the group by setting up cells in the northern
areas of Tripoli, Dinnieh, Akkar and a part of the Bekaa Valley.

“It’s
an open war with terrorists… We shouldn’t forget that they are still
occupying a part of our land [on the outskirts of Arsal],” the FM said.

Hezbollah
said the attacks were a result of secret and blatant regional and
international support for militant groups in the region, “which are
spreading like a virus.”

“This takfiri mentality must be heavily
fought, its plans must be uncovered, and it must be prevented from
spreading, contrary to what some in Lebanon are doing who are misleading
(the public) to cover up the terrorists atrocious ideology,” a
statement by the party said.

Hezbollah has continued to defend its
role in the ongoing Syrian war, saying its presence there has to a
large extent prevented militants from carrying out attacks in Lebanon.

Future
Movement chief and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that the
“terrorist attack that targeted Al-Qaa is a terrorist crime, organized
in the caves of obscurity, and an episode in a hellish series that plans
to extend the Syrian fire to the neighboring countries, and spread
chaos in all societies.”

“It’s further proof of the necessity to
mobilize all efforts to face challenges that threaten Lebanon,” Hariri
said in a statement.

He added that Lebanon “cannot endure the
repercussions of the ongoing war in Syria and that any plan to combat
terrorism should begin from the inside and through legitimate
institutions, at the forefront the Lebanese Army.”

Lebanese Forces
leader Samir Geagea condemned the attacks on Twitter, speculating that
“Al-Qaa wasn’t the target, but the suicide bombers were hiding there
until they could move to another area.”

Kataeb Party leader Sami
Gemayel called on the state to “fortify the roles of the Lebanese Army
and Internal Security Forces in the village (Al-Qaa), its surroundings
and along the border to prevent the recurrence of such attacks.”

A
statement from the Kataeb Party later said the attacks fall within the
framework of the “ongoing attempt to lure Lebanon into the regional
fires,” saying Hezbollah’s claim of protecting Lebanon and the Lebanese
by fighting in Syria had failed.

Change and Reform bloc leader
Michel Aoun said “the true condemnation isn’t against those misguided
individuals who blow themselves and others up to ‘go to heaven,’ but
instead against the countries that planned and financed (terrorism),
caused exodus and pushed the region into fire.”

Amal Movement said
that the “terror and takfiri act targets the nation and all its people,
which requires all the Lebanese at this fateful moment to fortify their
solidarity and surround the army to preserve Lebanon, its stability and
maintain its civil peace.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader
Walid Jumblatt called for the swift election of a president to protect
the country’s institutions, asking “if terrorism targeted the border
today, tomorrow it will target the country inside.”

Transport and Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter also called on the Lebanese to “unite and back the army and the resistance.”

He told reporters from the site of the blast that “the whole country was the target [of the bombings] and not only Al-Qaa.”

The
minister refused to comment on the identities of the attackers, saying
that “Al-Qaa paid the price on behalf of all the Lebanese.”

Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi offered condolences to the families of the victims in a statement issued by his press office.

“This terror operation highlights our belief that takfiri terrorism is seeking to spread across Lebanon,” he said.

Azzi described Al-Qaa as a “model for coexistence in the Bekaa, particularly in north [Bekaa].”

Resigned
Minister of Economy Alain Hakim also vowed via Twitter that “Al-Qaa
will not be used to communicate messages,” and added that “Christians
will remain in their land until the end of time.”

Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil slammed the “takfiri terrorism that hit Al-Qaa,” deeming it targets all of Lebanon.

“We have to remain united behind our army and to fortify our local front through dialogue and rational rhetoric.”

Lebanese
Democratic Party head Talal Arslan called for unity after the attacks,
saying that “this should increase our cohesion and conviction of the
national unity that will remain above all.”

Resigned Justice
Minister Ashraf Rifi called on security and military agencies “to solely
be responsible of the country’s borders and protecting the Lebanese
people, who are paying the price of (military) adventures in Syria and
the region,” in reference to Hezbollah. The official is a fierce critic
of the party.

Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a tweet
that “there is no priority above safeguarding the Constitutional
institutions, ending [political] bickering and supporting the Lebanese
Army.”

Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said in remarks to local media
that “the bombings in Al-Qaa are a disgraceful terror attack that
threaten the Lebanese in their homes and on their land,” describing it
as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

He called on authorities to take control of make-shift refugee camps across the country.