BAALBEK, Lebanon: Lebanese authorities arrested 23 suspects in fresh raids in the Bekaa Valley Wednesday, but failed to prevent the murder of a Lebanese national despite the security crackdown, now in its seventh day.
The Army raided a house in the town of Al-Marj in the Western Bekaa, where it arrested four wanted suspects and seized three rifles, ammunition and unspecified military equipment, according to an Army statement released Wednesday.
The Army also arrested 19 Syrians in the city of Baalbek and the Baalbek villages of Hawsh Tal Safieh and Taybeh on charges of entering Lebanese territory illegally.
But despite the heightened security in the district, a resident was shot dead in a town 20 kilometers north of Baalbek.
Mohammad Fouad Hajj Hasan, 54, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in front of his house in Rasem al-Hasath.
According to security sources, a black vehicle with tinted windows was waiting for the victim outside his house. The motorists opened fire at Hajj Hasan moments after he got into his vehicle.
Security forces arrived at the scene shortly afterward and have launched an investigation.
Earlier Wednesday, General Security units dismantled checkpoints erected on Baalbek’s major streets.
The General Security had cordoned off the city of Baalbek Tuesday as Lebanese soldiers raided homes in search of criminals.
However, as of Wednesday, the only checkpoints left standing in the city were those erected by the Army at the entrances to the Baalbek neighborhood of Hay al-Sharawneh.
Security forces entered Baalbek for the first time Tuesday in the sixth day of raids since the launch of a security plan for the Bekaa and east Lebanon.
Several Lebanese citizens were detained, including one wanted on multiple warrants for his involvement in a series of shootings, according to a military statement.
Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Wednesday evening that the number of arrests made in the Bekaa since the launch of the security plan had reached 156. He stressed that any illegal weapons found would be immediately confiscated.
Meanwhile, General Security at Rafik Hariri International Airport arrested wanted Salafist sheikh Bilal Dikmak after his extradition from Turkey, where he had been hiding for several months, security sources told The Daily Star.
Dikmak heads the Tripoli-based Islamist society “Iqraa” and was wanted on several charges of involvement in terrorist activities.
The salafist sheikh was deported from Turkey and arrived late Tuesday night in Beirut, where he was handed over to the Lebanese authorities, the sources said.
He is being interrogated at General Security headquarters on suspicion of forming a terrorist group and trying to establish an “Islamic emirate” in Tripoli and north Lebanon.
Dikmak is also suspected of recruiting Islamist youths for his gang and providing them with weapons and ammunition.
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