Lebanon Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji paid an inspection visit to the Bekaa border town of al-Qaa on Monday, in the wake of dawn suicide blasts

Lebanon Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji paid an inspection visit to the Bekaa border town of al-Qaa on Monday, in the wake of dawn suicide blasts that killed nine civilians and wounded 15 people including army troops.

“Qahwaji inspected the scene of the suicide bombings and instructed the military units to boost their security measures at all border crossings and to pursue any suspected militants inside the country,” an army statement said.

The army chief later visited the municipality building where he met with Greek Catholic Archbishop of Baalbek Elias Rahal and several MPs and dignitaries from the region.

The commander “extended condolences to the families of the martyrs and wished speedy recovery for the wounded, hailing al-Qaa and the rest of the border towns as Lebanon's first line of defense in the face of terrorism,” the army statement added.

“The army has full determination and capacity to continue fighting this terrorism, whose brutal crimes do not differentiate between one sect and another,” Qahwaji said.

“Any act of terror, regardless of its magnitude, cannot at all affect the army's decisive determination to fight terror and protect Lebanon and its stability,” the army chief reassured.

A string of suicide bombings early on Monday killed at least nine people, including four suicide bombers, and wounded fifteen others in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria.