Risks in Lebanon

This item appears on page 61 of the October 2015 issue.

The US Department of State urges people to avoid all travel to Lebanon due to ongoing security concerns. Extremist groups operate in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, IS, ANF and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, all of which the US government has designated as terrorist organizations. 

Episodic clashes between the Lebanese army and Syrian-based extremists have occurred along the border with Syria since August 2014. In the past two years, two US citizens have died in bombings and two have been kidnapped. In January 2015, two suicide bombers struck a café in the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood of Tripoli, killing nine people and injuring 37.