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DUBAI: The UAE joined a multi-nation, two-month anti-drug campaign that seized 822 tons of illegal drugs worth $2.9 billion, state news agency WAM reported.

Running from June 10 to Aug. 7, the operation saw 12,564 suspects arrested around the world, WAM reported.

It was the second time members of the International Security Alliance have carried out such an operation targeting international criminal groups.

Other member states of the International Security Alliance taking part in the operation included Bahrain, Morocco, Spain and France.

There were also members of the American Police Organization and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, as well as personnel from Jordan, involved in the operation.

The cross-border cooperation enabled the gathering of information on new criminal networks, exchange of expertise on drug smuggling methods and the unifying of efforts in combating narcotics, which enhanced joint preparedness and developed proactive mechanisms to counter and control the movement of illegal drugs, WAM reported.

The ISA framework was established in 2017 by the UAE and France to enhance cooperation and build partnerships to address issues of global significance, particularly combating transnational organized crime.

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council on Thursday unanimously extended “for a final time” a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until the end of 2026, when the operation will then begin a year-long “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal.”

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution after a compromise was reached with the United States, a veto-wielding council member. The Security Council decided “to extend for a final time the mandate of UNIFIL.”

The resolution “requests UNIFIL to cease its operations on 31 December 2026 and to start from this date and within one year its orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal of its personnel, in close consultation with the Government of Lebanon with the aim of making Lebanon Government the sole provider of security in southern Lebanon.” This will be the last time the United States will support an extension of UNIFIL, said acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea.

“The security environment in Lebanon is radically different than just one year ago, creating the space for Lebanon to assume greater responsibility,” she told the council. UNIFIL’s mandate was expanded in 2006, following a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, to allow peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army keep parts of the south free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state.

That has sparked friction with Hezbollah, which effectively controls southern Lebanon despite the presence of the Lebanese army. Hezbollah is a heavily armed party that is Lebanon’s most powerful political force.

“Decades since UNIFIL’s mandate was extended, it is time to dispel the illusion. UNIFIL has failed in its mission and allowed Hezbollah to become a dangerous regional threat,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said after the vote. The United States brokered a truce in November between Lebanon and Israel following more than a year of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza.

The US is now seeking to promote a plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament. Washington is linking the plan to a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, while also promoting a US- and Gulf-backed economic development zone in Lebanon’s south aimed at reducing Hezbollah’s reliance on Iranian funding.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the extension, noting that it “reiterates the call for Israel to withdraw its forces from the five sites it continues to occupy, and affirms the necessity of extending state authority over all its territory.”