UK pledges nearly $30 million to Lebanese army

The UK will provide nearly $30 million to the Lebanese army, mostly to boost security along the country's volatile border with Syria, AFP reports.

In his first visit to Beirut as Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond announced Britain would provide Lebanon with an additional £4.5 million ($6.5 million US) to help train more than 5,000 soldiers.

Another £15.3 million ($22 million US) would be allocated "for the training and mentoring of the Lebanese Armed Forces' Land Border Regiments, over the next three years," according to a statement from the embassy.

Hammond said the "aim is for Lebanon to have secured 100 percent of its border with Syria, and for the UK to have trained over 11,000 Lebanese soldiers in the specialist techniques of urban counterterrorism by 2019."

"Lebanon is an important part of the front line against terrorism," he told journalists after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Since Syria's conflict erupted in 2011, Lebanon's army has fought off armed groups and jihadist factions along the country's eastern border.