The top US military commander for the Middle East was in Lebanon on Wednesday meeting with the head of the Lebanese army.
In the wake of shocking overthrow of the government in neighboring Syria, the two military leaders discussed the security situation in Lebanon, a statement from the country's army said.
US Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, who leads US Central Command, met with the head of the Lebanese army Gen. Joseph Aoun to discuss ongoing American support for the implementation of the US-and French-brokered ceasefire agreement, which ended more than a year of war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Israel has said the truce deal gives it the right to use military force against perceived ceasefire violations, and has launched near-daily strikes, mostly in southern Lebanon, that have killed dozens of people since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27. Still, the shaky ceasefire appears to be holding.
Two people were killed Wednesday by Israeli strikes in two different towns in the southern municipality of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said.
On Tuesday, Kurilla was in eastern Syria visiting US military bases and meeting with members of a Kurdish-led Syrian force that is backed by the US. He was assessing what CENTCOM described as efforts to counter a resurgence of the ISIS group. He also visited Baghdad for talks with Iraqi officials on regional security and counter-ISIS operations.
