Lebanon's cabinet has told the army to draw up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms in a challenge to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, which rejects calls to disarm.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is under growing pressure from the US to ensure that the Iran-aligned militant group lays down its weapons.View on euronews

The Lebanese government asked the national army Tuesday to prepare a plan in which only state institutions will have weapons in the small nation by the end of the year, a move that aims to disarm the militant Hezbollah group.