BAALBEK, Lebanon: Lebanese security forces carried out more raids across the eastern Bekaa Valley Thursday, detaining at least eight people, security sources and the Army said.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian man wanted over terror-related activity died Thursday of wounds he sustained during a shootout with police in north Lebanon.
In the town of Arsal, the Army arrested a Syrian national for possessing a fake identification document and driving an unregistered car, the military said in a statement.
A Lebanese was also detained for attempting to smuggle food to the town’s outskirts, where jihadi militants are hiding out.
The statement added that a Lebanese fugitive as well as four citizens driving unregistered cars were arrested in Baalbek and the nearby villages of Telya and Douris.
In Bar Elias, the Army arrested Syrian national Walid Hussein over suspected links to terrorist groups, the statement added.
General Security and Army forces entered the village of Nabi Sheet on the Syrian border, where they erected checkpoints and performed raids without making any arrests or seizures.
The raids came one day after security forces arrested 23 suspects in two villages of the Baalbek district and a West Bekaa village.
Wednesday’s Army raids also led to the confiscation of weapons and ammunition but failed to prevent the murder of Lebanese national Fouad Hajj Hasan, who was shot dead by gunmen facing his house 20 kilometers north of Baalbek.
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.
Separately, a man accused of belonging to ISIS was arrested in the Zghorta neighborhood of Airounieh Thursday, a security source told The Daily Star.
The source identified the detainee as Ali Mohammad Tarek Safsouf.
He was arrested by judicial officers from Lebanon’s counterterrorism bureau.
Also in north Lebanon, Palestinian man Wael Kamel Youssef, wanted over terror-related activity and a series of killings, died Thursday of wounds he sustained during a shootout with police in Tripoli.
A police officer was also slightly wounded in the late-Wednesday confrontation during the raid on the home of Youssef in the area of Jabal Badawi in the northern city of Tripoli, a security source said.
The source told The Daily Star Maj. Nazih Saleh was wounded when Youssef tossed a grenade at police following the shootout.
The suspect, who goes by the nickname “Abu al-Madariss,” was wounded in the shootout that preceded the grenade attack.
He was captured and taken to Mulla hospital in Tripoli, but died a few hours later.
Gunfire could be heard in the Tripoli neighborhood of Mankoubeen after news emerged that Youssef succumbed to his wounds.
An ISF statement said 35-year-old Youssef – who is wanted on 109 warrants for murder, drug trafficking, theft, forgery and throwing grenades – was nicknamed Abu al-Madariss because he would “distribute drugs to schoolchildren.”
“Abu al-Madariss” translates to “the father of schools.”
“During the raid, [Youssef] opened fire on the [police] force and then tossed a hand grenade that wounded a police officer, prompting police to respond to the source of fire,” the statement said.
It said Youssef was wounded in the shootout and taken to a hospital for treatment but that he later died of his wounds.
A security source said Youssef’s relatives fired their weapons and threw a grenade at a Lebanese Army patrol in the Jabal Badawi-Mankoubeen area when Abu al-Madariss’ body arrived in the town. No casualties were reported from the early afternoon attack.
No comments:
Post a Comment