CAIRO, August 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Saudi Arabia has allocated one billion dollars to back Lebanese army fighting with Islamic militants on the border with Syria, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri told reporters in Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Wednesday.

These allocations will be used to step up security on the border, he said.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia “informed me about his benevolent decision to allocate one billion dollars to Lebanese army and security forces to build up their capabilities to ensure security of Lebanon,” said the high-ranking Lebanese politician believed to be the main representative of the Sunnite community in the country meeting with reporters at the palace of the Saudi monarch on the Red Sea coast. In his words, Lebanon has already received these funds.

Lebanese army confronts militants from extremist Sunnite organization Islamic State which foiled the ceasefire in the Syria-bordering town of Ersal, 90 kilometers away from Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Lebanese military forces have encircled the town. All other Syrian armed opposition groupings, including Jebhat al-Nusra, agreed to leave this town and free hostages.

The situation in the town of Ersal started deteriorating and going out of control when Syrian troops had pushed militants to the border. Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities placed army block points along the border to bar armed gangs from infiltrating in the country.