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Javier Lion Bustillo The Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra; new actors in... 305 attacks on the organisation or Shiite neighbourhoods oscillated between attributing them to jihadist groups (on occasions pointing out the proximity of these groups to Saudi Arabia and the March 14 Alliance) and to Israel in an attempt to reduce inter-denominational tensions37. In addition, in August 2013 two Salafi mosques in Tripoli were attacked, killing 47 people and further exacerbating the confessional conflict. For its part, the Syrian government made the Qalamoun Mountains the primary focus of its attention in the second half of 2013 and in early 2014, and fought fiercely against opposition forces (particularly against groups associated with ISIL and al-Nusra in the districts of Qara and An-Nabk). Assad’s troops launched a major offensive in November 2013, while Hezbollah deployed forces on the Lebanese side of the border in an attempt to prevent an infiltration and the dispatch of supplies to the jihadists. Indeed, the latter carried out a series of manoeuvres, such as the ambush near Nahle on 21 December, which claimed the lives of 32 al-Nusra members. They also operated on the other side of the border, offering support to the Syrian army in operations of the magnitude of the conquest of Qara, Deir Atiyah and An-Nabk. The latter offensive significantly improved Assad’s fate because it reduced insurgent pressure on the M-5 motorway connecting Damascus and Aleppo and cut off the opposition’s line of communication between Arsal and the Qalamoun Mountains38. To summarise, during this first phase (from the start of the civil war to late 2013), the most important jhadist organisations in Syria preferred to keep a low profile in Lebanon while developing important connections with radical Lebanese and Palestinian Sunni groups to try to get them under their influence. During this time, both parties collaborated in attacks against the LAF, Hezbollah and Shiite civilians39. THE ISLAMIC STATE AND JABHAT AL-NUSRA AS NEW ACTORS IN LEBANON The end of 2013 ushered in a new phase in ISIL and al-Nusra’s involvement in Lebanon, when they began to play a much more prominent role. This role was deliberately linked to the action of Hezbollah in the Syrian Civil War and an attempt to send out the message that its attacks were simply a reaction to the role of the Shiite militia as an ally of Bashar al-Assad. In practice, the violence was targeted more at unarmed civilians (mainly Shia and Alawi Muslims) than the Hezbollah militia, which were a more difficult target. A clear example of this was the attack against the 37  DAKROUB, Hussein, “Jumblatt: Blaming Saudis for Embassy Blasts Dangerous”, The Daily Star, 6/12/2013. 38  NASSIEF, Isabel, “Hezbollah and the Fight for Control in Qalamoun”, Institute for the Study of War, 26/11/2013. 39  RIZK, Sibylle, “Liban. Une nouvelle terre de Jihad?”, Politique Internationale, no. 145, 2014. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee

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