Army Nabs Several Suspects as Crackdown on Offenders Continues

The army continued on Friday clamping down on offenders across Lebanon, detaining several suspects linked to terror acts, the military command said in a statement.

An army unit raided Syrian encampments in the Zgharta town of Meryata, arresting ten Syrians who entered the country illegally.

A communique issued by the army said that a unit also confiscated a Mitsubishi Jeep that was used during the latest clashes in the northern coastal city of Tripoli.

An explosive detonator was found in the vehicle.

The statement added that the army detained in the town of Abdeh in the northern district of Akkar two Lebanese nationals identified as Mahmoud Moustapha Malas and Mohammed Moustapha Malas over their involvement in a shooting at soldiers in the area.

Bilal Hussein al-Masri was also arrested in Bhanine on the suspicion of involvement in terror acts, while Mohammed Motasem al-Itr was detained in Tripoli's al-Bohsas for wounding a civilian and a soldier in a shooting.

The army's communique said that the detainees were handed over to the competent authorities.

Several other Syrians were detained in a raid on campsites in the town of Qaroun in the Western Bekaa Valley.

The army has come under growing attacks across Lebanon by militants who accuse it of colluding with Hizbullah in its intervention in the Syrian conflict on the side of the regime.

It has been carrying out a major crackdown in the southern city of Sidon, the northern city of Tripoli and Minieh for the past two weeks, in the wake of unprecedented clashes with Islamist militants in Tripoli's old souks and Bab al-Tabbaneh which spread to the nearby town of Bhannine in Minieh.

H.K.

G.K.