News / Lebanon

Lebanese army arrests 10 Takfiri terrorists in border town

Saturday, 22 April 2017 1:32 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 22 April 2017 1:33 PM ]

Lebanese army soldiers patrol near the site of bomb attacks in the Christian village of Qaa, on the border with Syria, June 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

The Lebanese army has arrested at least 10 "dangerous" terrorists following their infiltration into the Arab country from the northeastern border with Syria.

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) announced the news in a statement on Saturday, adding that the terrorists were detained following a "swift raid" on their hideout in Wadi al-Hosn area, located on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal, earlier in the day.

It further said the terrorists initially entered a gun battle with the army forces, to whom they soon surrendered themselves. No army personnel was reported wounded or killed in the operation.

Meanwhile, a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a local leader of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group was killed in the raid, adding that the slain terrorist, along with a group of other terrorists, took part in a number of attacks against Lebanon's army centers in Arsal back in 2014.

Daesh terrorists killed at least two Lebanese troops in the 2014 cross-border clashes and took nine other soldiers hostage.

The army says it conducts regular anti-terror operations against Daesh and terrorists belonging to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in the mountainous region of Arsal.

Lebanon has witnessed infiltration of Takfiri terrorists from neighboring Syria ever since foreign-sponsored militants began their campaign of terror in the Arab country in March 2011. Many Lebanese civilians and security forces have been targeted in bombings by militants in the country since then.

Assisting army forces, fighters with the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah have also fended off several attacks by Daesh so far. Hezbollah says its mission in Syria is aimed at preventing the spillover of the crisis into Lebanon.

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