U.S. troops: ‘We are ready to fight’
U.N. troops have started to move out of northern Lebanon after a cease-fire brokered by the United States and Turkey, U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement Friday.
The U.R.N.-backed truce between the rival rival camps has led to a temporary lull in violence that has killed more than 1,100 people.
Johnson’s statement came after the U.A.E. announced that it would allow its soldiers and police to leave its border region and to take up posts in the northern Lebanese province of Bekaa Valley.
He said the British government will continue to support the U to prevent any further flare-ups.
“We are prepared to fight,” Johnson said, adding that “we will continue our support to the government of Lebanon to prevent further escalation in this volatile region.”
A spokesman for the U, James Gifford, said on Twitter that U.C.B.
N troops had departed the Bekani Valley, a vast area of land stretching from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south, and had left for Turkey, where they are currently training Kurdish and Arab fighters.
“The U.F.O. [U.N.] forces in northern Lebanon are being deployed to help the government take back the Bani Qasr area from the BN [Bekani] group,” Giffords spokesman Jonathan Schanzer said in an email to The Associated Press.
The move is the latest in a series of U.L.S.-led air operations aimed at bolstering the government in southern Lebanon, where the U-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are fighting to retake control of the country’s largest city, Tripoli.
U.U.S., France, Germany and other nations have been supporting SDF forces in the area, and Johnson said on Friday that the U.-led coalition is sending about 50 F-16 fighter jets and about 25 F-15s to help.
The alliance’s support has allowed the U and the coalition to bolster SDF fighters in the city, which is on the Turkish border and is a major U.B.-backed supply route for arms to rebels fighting the government.
The SDF is led by the SDF-led Free Syrian Army, which also has U.P. fighters.
The group also has the support of several other foreign governments, including France, which has provided air support.
“Turkey, France and Germany have supported the S.D.
F, including providing them with a wide range of weaponry,” Johnson added.
“As a result of their support, SDF positions are improving and their capabilities are improving.
Turkey has also provided them with equipment to help them fight.”
The S.B., a Kurdish-led force, captured the Bajazet River city of Bani Nafair in May.
Turkey and the Southeastern Province of Lebanon, which includes the Bakhramiya region of southern Lebanon and the Beka region in the southwest, also have forces that support the SDP.
The BN-backed SDF, which was formed after the fall of Beka, has been fighting to reclaim the city.
The battle for Beka has pitted the SDC, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups, the SOB, a Kurdish faction led by Turkey, against the SAB, an alliance of several rebel groups and militias in Lebanon.
The government’s forces have suffered heavy casualties.
Johnson said the United Nations will work to continue the cessation of hostilities.
He did not provide a timetable for the cessation, but said it is expected to be in place by the end of the week.
He also said the UU is expected on Friday to discuss a proposal for a cease fire that would end the fighting in the Bouda and Bekana regions.
He described the truce as a “success.”
The UU also says it will continue providing humanitarian aid to the BK, Boudas and Bana, which together have more than 2 million people.
In the meantime, Johnson said he will work with other countries, including Germany, France, Britain and Italy, to ensure that the ceasefire is fully implemented.
Johnson did not mention whether the UB-led coalition would continue its support of the SAA and SDF in southern Syria.
The coalition, which Johnson called a “fantastic success,” also has been aiding the S-300 missile defense system, or SAM, developed by Russian-made state-owned Almaz-Antey.
Johnson also did not say whether the United Kingdom will contribute to the air campaign against the Assad regime, which the United State has supported since 2012.
The United States, Britain, France as well as the European Union have been working to train Syrian rebels and help them to retake rebel-held territory.
Johnson, who was in France for the first time, said that the United states and its allies are also supporting the S