Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Islamic State of Iraq and Levant has targeted a key route to Lebanon.

Officials said ISIL has recruited hundreds of fighters to control a key route from Syria to Lebanon. They said the effort included ISIL assaults on several Lebanese towns along the Syrian border.

A key ISIL target was believed to be Ras Baalbek, about five kilometers from Talet Al Hamra, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said Ras Baalbek, a Christian community, has turned into a virtual ghost town in wake of ISIL and Nusra attacks in the northern Bekaa.

“People have seen what ISIL does to Muslims, let alone Christians, and left for other parts of Lebanon or abroad,” an official said. “They also see that the army does not have the forces to guard the town.”

[Leaked documents show Turkish intel shipped weapons to Al Qaida]

On Jan. 23, ISIL attacked a Lebanese Army base in the Bekaa Valley. ISIL fighters captured the base and eventually withdrew after a 16-hour battle that included Lebanese air and ground strikes.

“The terrorists have made a decision to establish a stronghold along the border,” an official said. “It seems that they have obtained a sufficient number of fighters and weapons to sustain operations.”

Officials said the attack on the army base in Talet Al Hamra reflected an escalation in ISIL operations in Lebanon. They said ISIL and its Al Qaida rival, Nusra Front for the Defense of Levant, have been recruiting Sunnis, particularly Palestinians, in the campaign to take over parts of Lebanon.

Ras Baalbek is adjacent to two additional ISIL targets. Officials said ISIL has been trying for more than six months to capture neighboring Arsal and Al Qaa.

The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has been assigned protection of Ras Baalbek. Over the last year, Hizbullah formed a civil guard called the Resistance Brigades to monitor those arriving in the town, whose population dropped from 7,000 to 1,500.

“There is a new death triangle for ISIL that stretches from Arsal to the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein Hilwe to Roumieh prison and which reaches Iraq and [the Syrian city of] Raqa,” Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said.

  Al Qaa, Arsal, ISIL, ISIL offensive in Bekaa Valley turns Christian village into ghost town, Ras Baalbek, WorldTribune.com