Lebanon's caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim. (Credit: NNA/File)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim said Thursday that the "security situation in Lebanon is under control" despite the present power vacuum at both the cabinet and presidential level.
Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31 and without a fully empowered cabinet since Najib Mikati's government assumed caretaker status on May 22, following parliamentary elections.
"The security situation in Lebanon is under control," Slim told Qatari news agency QNA, noting that "the military and security forces are playing their role in protecting security."
On Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said after a meeting of the Central Security Council that the crime rate in Lebanon has not increased this year, despite the many crises facing the country, compared to the figures available for the same period of 2021. He said, however, that eight terrorist cells were dismantled this year by the intelligence services. For their part, the Internal Security Forces announced the arrest of thirty alleged "terrorists" linked to the militant group Islamic State in the last four months.