The media office of the Lebanese Forces announced that "the Mayor of Baqaasifrin, Mr. Bilal Zoud, continues with prior intent and design in the act of fabrication and deception against the Lebanese Forces by distributing a statement, woven from fantasy, filled with hatred and malice, in which he attempted to accuse supporters of the Forces of assaulting a wedding belonging to one of the honorable families from Baqaasifrin - the Al-Sabra family - in the Arda area (Harat al-Hawara), Zgharta district. He then retracted his initial statement clarifying that the incident was individual."
The statement indicated that "Zoud's retraction came after the concerned family refuted his accusations and clarified to public opinion that the incident occurred among members of the same family, and that there is no connection whatsoever between the residents of Arda (Harat al-Hawara) and the case, as they sought to intervene to separate the disputing parties out of honor and good neighborliness."
The statement highlighted that "Zoud's actions unmistakably reveal an agenda that is no longer hidden from anyone, aimed at targeting the Lebanese Forces and sowing discord, at times between the residents of Baqaasifrin and Bsharri, and at other times between the residents of Baqaasifrin and Arda (Harat al-Hawara)."
The Lebanese Forces concluded: "We present this incident to the attention of the Minister of Interior and Municipalities Bassam Molawi and all concerned parties in order to put an end to those who attempt to sow discord and division among the people of the same region, in service of their operators and their destructive projects."
