Center for a New American Security

Mexico is not the only state whose authority is being challenged by drug gangs. This has nothing to do with Hizballah, either. This is about Shia drug clans. Which is a phrase that sounds as cool as it does incongruous. Try using "Shia drug clan" in one of your office conversations today, people.

BEIRUT (AP) -- Gunmen ambushed Lebanese troops in the east of the country on Monday, spraying their military vehicle with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, a senior military official said. Four soldiers were killed and an officer was wounded in the attack.

The ambush on a major road near the town of Rayak comes after a recent push by Lebanese troops to crack down on the drug trade in the Bekaa Valley and carried the hallmarks of a revenge attack by clansmen.

The official said the gunmen, traveling in three four-wheel drive vehicles, sped away after the attack.