Road Blocked in Protest at Deadly Army Raid

A number of young men on Tuesday blocked the al-Sharawneh road in Baalbek with burning tires, rocks and other obstacles, the National News Agency reported.

The men were protesting a deadly army raid that killed a suspected drug trafficking baron and seven other people in a raid on his home in eastern Lebanon.

“The army intervened, removed the obstacles and reopened the road to vehicles and pedestrians,” NNA added.

The army said Monday that one of its units “raided the house of Ali Zayd Ismail, wanted on several counts of drug trafficking in the area of al-Hamudiya-Brital," in the Bekaa Valley.

"The unit was shot at... forcing the force's members to retaliate, which led to the killing of eight gunmen," it said in a statement.

The army said it detained a further 41 people -- 16 Lebanese and 25 Syrians -- and seized weapons and drugs.