copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-08-02): Arsal is located in the North-Eastern of Lebanon, sharing a 50km stretch of border with Syria and sheltered by mountain terrain that surrounds the region. While the town may be labelled as insignificant in its size and infrastructure, in recent years, Arsal has become associated with Lebanon-Syria politics and as a geostrategic stronghold for Syrian militants. Arguably, what entrenched this status shift for Arsal was a five day siege conducted by Syrian militant groups in 2014 which is often referred to as "the Battle of Arsal". The siege resulted in mass casualties and a hostage crisis, ultimately initiating long term engagement between Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Syrian militant factions such as the Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front (known today as Jabhat el-Sham) in Arsal and particularly in its mountainous outskirts.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-10-30): In 2017, the Lebanese security forces sought to impede Sunni foreign terrorist fighter flow to and from Syria and Iraq via border security and counterterrorism operations, including increased security measures at airports, border crossings, and ports to prevent the flow of ISIS and al‑Nusrah Front (ANF) fighters to Syria and Iraq. In August, the Lebanese government was involved in an arrangement that led to the departure of 4,800 al-Qa’ida-affiliated Syrian fighters from Aarsal, Lebanon to Idlib, Syria, and 670 ISIS fighters from Raas Baalbek, Lebanon into Syria. Lebanese President Michael Aoun declared "victory over terrorism" following an August 2017 LAF campaign to expel ISIS militants along the Lebanese-Syrian border near Aarsal. It was the LAF’s largest and most successful military operation in over a decade. Lebanon is a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and participates in all four of the Coalition’s civilian working groups. [...] In addition to the major military victory in August to clear ISIS militants from the Syrian‑Lebanese border, the Lebanese security services disrupted multiple terrorist networks and made several high profile arrests in 2017. On April 22, the LAF killed an ISIS leader and detained 10 other suspected militants in Aarsal. On November 15, the army arrested Mustafa al‑Hujeiri, a senior Sunni extremist figure and cleric involved in the 2014 kidnapping of 30 Lebanese soldiers and policemen.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-31): In 2017, the Lebanese security forces sought to impede Sunni foreign terrorist fighter flow to and from Syria and Iraq via border security and counterterrorism operations, including increased security measures at airports, border crossings, and ports to prevent the flow of ISIS and al‑Nusrah Front (ANF) fighters to Syria and Iraq. In August, the Lebanese government was involved in an arrangement that led to the departure of 4,800 al-Qa’ida-affiliated Syrian fighters from Aarsal, Lebanon to Idlib, Syria, and 670 ISIS fighters from Raas Baalbek, Lebanon into Syria. Lebanese President Michael Aoun declared "victory over terrorism" following an August 2017 LAF campaign to expel ISIS militants along the Lebanese-Syrian border near Aarsal. It was the LAF’s largest and most successful military operation in over a decade. Lebanon is a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and participates in all four of the Coalition’s civilian working groups.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-01): The Arsal area is broadly supportive of the Sunni-dominated uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. [...] Arsal is still a lebanese land no? But syrian airstrikes a friendly brotherly airstrikes so ca va... Bravo southern.. U are right souverainty is not important just as the syrian did in late 80s.. [...] Syrian warplanes strike Arsal because terrorists are there. Last I looked at a map, Arsal is in Lebanon. ERlier, Israeli war planes struck inside Lebanese territory for the same reason. The glorious resistance swore revenge on the Israeli attack. A violation of Lebanese sovereignty they said.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-12-07): Despite public assurances that it would do so, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has not released a public report on its June 2017 antiterrorism operation in the vicinity of Aarsal. During the operation, the LAF–in search of suspected ISIS and Fatah al-Sham terrorists who had seized the area in 2014–detained more than 350 Syrian men after five terrorists detonated suicide bombs, killing a young girl and wounding seven soldiers. Four of the detainees died in custody. The LAF concluded its investigation in July 2017, and LAF leadership publically conceded the detainees experienced "some mistreatment," but the LAF maintained they died of natural causes. Family members of three of the men released photographs of their bodies returned by the LAF, which they alleged showed signs of torture.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-07-31): - Hezbollah must cease all military operations and withdraw from the Arsal AOR. The LAF cannot afford even a lingering impression that it and the Shi’a militant group are working together to defeat ISIS. It also cannot conduct operations so long as Hezbollah continues to hold ground formerly held by JAN. The Government of Lebanon – of which Hezbollah is part – led by the President and the Prime Minister will have to buttress the LAF to ensure that deconfliction is preserved. [...] - Not unlike ISR, the LAF has significantly expanded its ability to find, fix and finish targets in the Arsal AOR. However, managing a larger mix of targets, or queuing and designating multiple targets simultaneously, is another area where the LAF can elect to leverage U.S. SOCCENT capabilities in Lebanon and the broader Levant.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-09-06): Islamic State infiltration into Lebanon has highlighted challenges facing the LAF. In 2013, fighting in the Qalamoun mountain region between Syria and Lebanon transformed the Lebanese border town of Arsal into a rear base for Syrian armed groups.25 In August 2014, clashes broke out between the LAF and Islamic State/Nusra Front militants in Arsal. Nineteen LAF personnel and 40 to 45 Lebanese and Syrians were killed, and 29 LAF and Internal Security Forces were taken hostage.26 It was generally believed that nine of the hostages were still being held by the Islamic State, until the location of their remains was disclosed as part of an August 2017 cease-fire arrangement with the group. U.S. officials described the August 2014 clashes between the Islamic State and the LAF in Arsal as a watershed moment for U.S. policy toward Lebanon, accelerating the provision of equipment and training to the LAF.27 The situation in Arsal is compounded by the refugee crisis—the border town hosts more than 40,000 refugees, exceeding the Lebanese host population by more than 15%.28 [...] Both the LAF and Hezbollah have deployed forces at various points along Lebanon's eastern border to prevent the infiltration of militants from Syria. In May 2017, Hezbollah withdrew from a 67 km area stretching from the Masnaa border crossing with Syria (the primary official land crossing between the two countries) to Arsal, and was replaced by LAF forces.37 Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah called on HTS militants to leave Arsal, suggesting that Hezbollah could take military action if needed. However, some Lebanese politicians argued that the job of clearing militants from Arsal should rest with the Lebanese government alone.38
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-10): On 17 September, Syrian Ground-attack aircraft fired three missiles 500 metres (1,600 ft) over the border into Lebanese territory near Arsal. It was suggested that the jets were chasing rebels in the vicinity. The attack prompted Lebanese president Michel Sleiman to launch an investigation, whilst not publicly blaming Syria for the incident.[17] [...] See also [edit]References [edit]- ^ "FSA 'Arsal Commander' Shot Dead in Town's Square". Naharnet. 14 August 2015. [...] - ^ "Arsal ambush kills two Lebanese soldiers hunting wanted fugitive". Dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-02-01): ARSAL, Lebanon, May 23 (UNHCR) - It's test day at the Arsal Public Second Shift Middle School and the students in the 8th Grade maths class are engrossed in their exam. They factor numbers, write a series of equations in the form of a single power - all in French, a language they have come to learn only since starting school here in north-east Lebanon two months ago. [...] Arsal was once a sleepy town nestled in the hills a few kilometres from the Syrian border. When war broke out in Syria two years ago, the town bulged as civilians, most of them women and children, fled to Lebanon. Soon Arsal grew by 10,000 people - roughly half were children. There wasn't enough room in the schools to handle all the newcomers, so the municipality was asked by the Lebanese Ministry of Education to create a second shift between one and six in the afternoon. Arsal Middle School gladly complied and 236 Syrian students were enrolled. "I look at these children and I say, 'What in this war is their fault?'" says Hujeiri. "They didn't do anything to deserve their fate. These children need to be educated."
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-11-30): Aarsal - insulation against the winter cold The ICRC and the Qatari Red Crescent have installed insulation in refugees' tents at Aarsal. Thousands of refugees are living in tented settlements after having fled the conflict in Syria. At more than 1300 m above sea level, Aarsal is one of Lebanon's coldest areas. Each winter, families struggle to survive in ill-equipped tents.
Claim: Aarsal is a territory of Syria (Aarsal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-12-31): Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict nearly three years ago, Lebanon’s Arsal, a lone enclave in the eastern Bekaa Valley for Sunnis sympathetic to the Syrian uprising, has served as a crucial logistical support network in the struggle against the Assad regime. Located in the northeastern corner of Lebanon on the border with Syria, the town lies nearly equidistant from Hezbollah’s Bekaa Valley strongholds of Baalbek and Hermel. In spite of its isolated position, the geostrategic relevance of Arsal lies in its close proximity across the border from the contested Qalamoun mountain range. Qalamoun is an opposition stronghold in western Syria between Homs and Damascus that is currently the site of an intense battle for control of key supply lines along the M5 highway. Lebanese authorities have long neglected Arsal and the notoriously porous nature of the border region has made it a hub for smuggling people, weapons, and drugs across the border into Syria. The smuggling routes through the connecting mountains flow freely in both directions, as weapons and fighters flow from Arsal into Qalamoun while car bombs and refugees flow in the opposite direction. Since the start of the Syrian conflict, Arsal’s pre-war population of 40,000 has more than doubled as 60,000 Syrian refugees have fled to the town due to the nearby fighting, according to municipality figures.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2023-05-09): Biden visited the border for the first time since becoming president in January 2023, according to the Texas Tribune.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2023-01-08): President Joe Biden visited the US-Mexico border on Sunday for the first time as president, but he did not appear to see or meet with migrants, including during a trip to a migrant respite center. Biden spent several hours in El Paso in his first visit to the southern border as president, following growing outcry and criticism that he had not yet seen the crisis created by the record number of migrants trekking to the border first hand. But that brief visit appeared largely focused on enforcement issues and speaking with border enforcement personnel. Reporters on the ground did not see any migrants at the respite center during the president’s visit there, nor along the motorcade routes throughout the afternoon. [...] The president’s flight was met by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a persistent critic of Biden and his administration for the federal response to migration on the US southern border. The Republican governor confirmed to reporters that he gave Biden a letter outlining what he described as "chaos" on the border.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2021-03-18): President Joe Biden's 'big problem' at the US border - Published [...] Some of this is the result of decisions made by Joe Biden early in his presidency. He reversed a Trump administration policy of turning away unaccompanied children at the border, instead opting to process them and place them with sponsoring families in the US. [...] While Biden and top administration officials have criss-crossed the US to tout the benefits of the recently passed $1.9tn (£1.4tn) Covid relief package, Republican officeholders have been travelling to the Mexican border - and blaming Biden for what they see as an overburdened system and presidential actions that are encouraging more illegal entries.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2023-01-09): Biden makes first visit to US-Mexico border since taking office [...] United States President Joe Biden has made his first visit to the US-Mexico border since taking office in January of 2022. [...] Following the border visit, Biden was set to continue on to Mexico, where the increase in crossings, as well as efforts to fight the trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs that have fuelled a deadly addiction crisis in the US, were set to top the agenda of the bilateral meeting with Lopez Obrador.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2021-03-24): Biden tasks Harris with tackling migrant influx on US-Mexico border US President Joe Biden has put Vice-President Kamala Harris in charge of controlling migration at the southern border following a big influx of new arrivals. [...] Since taking office, Mr Biden has ended construction work on Mr Trump's border wall and called for reviews of legal immigration programmes terminated by the former president.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2024-02-26): Biden’s visit comes as he considers sweeping executive action to restrict migrants’ ability to seek asylum at the US southern border if they crossed illegally. Biden has repeatedly lambasted congressional Republicans for failing to pass a bipartisan compromise spending package that included significant concessions on border policy as he tries to flip the script on the GOP, which has slammed Biden over the border throughout his presidency – including impeaching his Homeland Security secretary over his handling of the border. [...] Since last month, a group of Texas mayors have repeatedly called on Biden to visit the southern border and have called on Congress to pass the national security supplemental package that would provide funding to address some of the concerns along the southern border. [...] Biden has previously visited the border once as president, traveling to El Paso, Texas, in January 2023, where he visited a migrant respite center but did not appear to see or meet with migrants.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2024-02-02): President Joe Biden says he has done everything under his authority to try to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border, and that he’ll be able to do more once Congress passes a new bill. But Republicans disagree. [...] Expedited removal: Biden is using it to quickly deport people who arrive at the southern border. However, people can be exempt from expedited removal if they can prove a credible fear of returning to their home country and therefore apply for asylum. [...] The White House, Statement from President Joe Biden on the bipartisan Senate border security negotiations, Jan. 26, 2024
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2023-01-05): Remarks by President Biden on Border Security and Enforcement [...] And I will visit the border myself this Sunday, in El Paso, to assess border enforcement operations, meet with the local officials and community leaders and the folks at the border sending me what they need that they don’t have, and make it public what they conclude they need they don’t have to try to convince my Republican colleagues they should do something. [...] Q Mr. President, why did you decide that now is finally the right time to visit the southern border? Republicans have been calling on you to do this since the beginning of your presidency.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2021-03-24): President Joe Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border and work with Central American nations to address root causes of the problem. [...] Biden, who has faced stiff criticism from Republicans over the increased flow of migrants, is hoping to show Americans he's taking the situation at the border seriously. He also wants to prevent the growing humanitarian and political challenge from overshadowing his administration's ambitious legislative agenda. [...] Biden made the announcement as a delegation of White House officials and members of Congress was traveled to the southern border on Wednesday to tour a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, where more than 750 migrant teenagers are being held.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2024-06-04): Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. Over the past three years, while Congress has failed to act, the President has acted to secure our border. His Administration has deployed the most agents and officers ever to address the situation at the Southern border, seized record levels of illicit fentanyl at our ports of entry, and brought together world leaders on a framework to deal with changing migration patterns that are impacting the entire Western Hemisphere. [...] President Biden believes we must secure our border. That is why today, he announced executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. These actions will be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today. They will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents. [...] Bar Migrants Who Cross the Southern Border Unlawfully From Receiving Asylum - President Biden issued a proclamation under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) suspending entry of noncitizens who cross the Southern border into the United States unlawfully. This proclamation is accompanied by an interim final rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that restricts asylum for those noncitizens.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2023-01-08): Biden makes his first visit to the southern border as president President Biden is visiting the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time as president on Sunday, stopping in El Paso, Texas, on his way to Mexico. The visit comes after two years of back-and-forth with Republicans over the Biden administration's immigration policy. [...] Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has sent many of the buses, hand-delivered a letter to Biden during his visit. The governor has been one of the most vocal critics of the Biden administration's immigration policy.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2023-01-08): For all of his international travel over his 50 years in public service, Biden has not spent much time at the U.S.-Mexico border. The only visit that the White House could point to was Biden’s drive by the border while he was campaigning for president in 2008. He sent Vice President Kamala Harris to El Paso in 2021, but she was criticized for largely bypassing the action, because El Paso wasn’t the center of crossings that it is now. President Barack Obama made a 2011 trip to El Paso, where he toured border operations and the Paso Del Norte international bridge, but he was later criticized for not going back as tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors crossed into the U.S. from Mexico. Trump, who made hardening immigration a signature issue, traveled to the border several times. During one visit, he crammed into a small border station to inspect cash and drugs confiscated by agents. During a trip to McAllen, Texas, then the center of a growing crisis, he made one of his most-often repeated claims, that Mexico would pay to build a border wall. American taxpayers ended up footing the bill after Mexican leaders flatly rejected the idea.
Claim: purports President Joe Biden has visited the U.S.-Southern Border more than once (Press Briefing, 2023-05-09)
Evidence (2024-06-04): WASHINGTON — Facing mounting political pressure over the migrant influx at the southern border, President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive action that will temporarily shut down asylum requests once the average number of daily encounters tops 2,500 between official ports of entry, according to a senior administration official. [...] "President Biden has led a historic opening of lawful pathways for individuals to and including families, to enter the United States through a lawful process, including the CBP One mobile application to request an appointment to present at a port of entry, as well as family reunification programs in countries throughout the region and a historic parole process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans," a senior administration official said. "And so this measure that we are announcing today comes alongside those lawful pathways," [...] "It is a betrayal of what we were told in his campaign four years ago," said Lindsay Toczylowski, the executive director for the California-based Immigrant Defenders Law Center. "We were told that President Biden would be restoring humanity at our border. … But what we are seeing is that history is repeating itself."