State Response 2nd half 2017

State responses were mainly concentrated in the areas that witnessed prominent Security tensions since the intensity of the State Response in each caza coincide with the level of conflictuality in the Security dimension. It is important to point out that since the appointment of new leadership at the head of security agencies such as the LAF and the ISF in March 2017, the number of wanted criminals arrested seems to have increased notably among individuals who were being protected by connections. More generally, this can suggest a more proactive stance of Lebanese state security apparatuses to contain widespread criminality.

Similar to the first half of 2017, Baalbeck witnessed the highest intensity of conflictivity in the State Response dimension during the second half of the year with almost half of the incidents under this dimension classified as Border Conflicts with Syria. Moreover, these incidents were mainly relevant to Army ground operations to arrest suspects of affiliation with armed militants groups, such as IS and Jabhat el-Sham (previously al-Nusra). Therefore, most of them were also classified as Power and Governance which increased the intensity of the State Response incidents.

Beirut, Baabda, Saida and Sour saw the second highest intensity of conflictivity in the State response dimension during the second half of 2017. Respectively, 42%, 46%, 41% and 23% of the State response incidents in these cazas are classified as Power and Governance. However, the nature of the security incidents varied depending on the location. In Beirut and Baabda the majority of these incidents were relevant to illicit trade related arrests of prominent smuggling network, while in Saida and Sour, they mainly involved responses to individual crimes such as robbery and murder, but also more intense conflicts such as affiliation with armed militant groups.