(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The UN Security Council late Monday "condemned" the attacks by violent extremist groups against the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces in the area of Ersal, east Lebanon, over the weekend.
The Council expressed its support for their efforts in fighting against terrorism and in preventing attempts to undermine Lebanon's stability.
The attacks resulted in at least 14 deaths, 86 injured, and 22 missing among the Lebanese security forces, in addition to civilian casualties. Extending its condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the Lebanese Government, the Council reiterated the need to further efforts to build up the capabilities of the Lebanese security forces to counter terrorism and address other security challenges, the Council President British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said in a press statement.
The Council reiterated its full support for the Lebanese Government to discharge its duties during this interim period in accordance with the constitution, until the election of the new president, and urged the Parliament to uphold Lebanon's long standing democratic tradition and to work to ensure that Presidential elections take place without further delay.
It appealed to all Lebanese parties to preserve national unity in the face of attempts to undermine the country's stability, consistent with their commitment in the Baabda Declaration, and stressed the importance for all Lebanese parties to respect Lebanon's policy of disassociation and to refrain from any involvement in the Syrian crisis.
The Council also stressed that effective implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 which put an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah war in summer 2006, and all other relevant Security Council resolutions "remains crucial to ensuring stability in Lebanon and full respect for Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence."
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