US Delivers $50Mln in Military Equipment to Lebanese Army - US Ambassador

The United States has delivered over $50 million in military assistance, including weapons and artillery, to the Lebanese Army, US Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard said during a ceremony at the Beirut Port on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US ambassador explained that the equipment will help Lebanese soldiers defend the country’s borders as well as "take the fight to the enemy" and combat extremists.

"What we have here is really about $50 million worth of equipment: there are 50 Humvees, there are 40 Howitzers, there are 50 grenade launchers, and there is over 1,000 tons of ammunition," Richard told reporters.

Lebanon is the fifth-largest recipient of US military financing in the world, Richard noted.

Washington has provided more than $221 million in weapons and training to the Lebanese security forces so far in 2016, according to the US embassy in Beirut.

Daesh group has claimed responsibility for terror attacks inside Lebanon, including the November 2015 double suicide bombing in Beirut that killed at least 37 people.

Lebanon has been in a state of political turmoil and without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman’s term expired in May 2014.