Lebanon forces kill nine Daesh suspects in hunt for terrorists

Lebanon says nine people suspected of being members of the the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have been killed amid a hunt for terrorists linked to the recent spate of deadly attacks in the Arab country.

The Internal Security Forces (ISF) said in a statement Sunday that police intelligence units have raided a house in the northern border town of Wadi Khaled, where "suspects” linked to Daesh had been holed up, "killing all the terrorists inside".

An unnamed security source also said "at least nine members of the group were killed" in the police operation on Saturday.

The source added that the death toll could rise as more bodies could be buried under the rubble of the house which was blown up during the operation.

The ISF further said the "terrorist cell" was made up of more than 15 suspects, adding that the other suspects had been arrested in previous raids.

Lebanese security forces, last month, launched a manhunt for suspects involved in an incident in the northern village of Kaftoun in August, when unidentified gunmen killed three people.

The two policemen and a civilian were shot after they stopped a suspicious vehicle on the outskirts of the village for violating a curfew imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the incident, the Lebanese army and police launched operations to track down the assailants.

In early September, the Lebanese army dismantled a terror outfit involved in the incident. The commander of the cell was identified as Khaled Tellawi.

Meanwhile, two Lebanese soldiers were killed overnight in an attack on an army post in northern Lebanon, the army said Sunday.

The attack took place in Miniyeh, the capital of the Miniyeh-Danniyeh District in North Governorate of Lebanon.

"Two soldiers were killed, in addition to one terrorist," the Lebanese army said in a statement.

An attacker "riding a motorbike tried to enter the army post, and army members confronted him, killing him instantly", it added.

They found grenades and an explosives belt on him, the last of which it said "he had intended to detonate inside the post".

Lebanon has often seen the infiltration of Takfiri elements from neighboring Syria into its territory, where they target the civilian population or security forces with bombings.

Back in August 2014, members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as Nusra Front, and Daesh terrorists overran the town of Arsal, located 124 kilometers northeast of the capital Beirut, killing a number of Lebanese forces. They also took 30 soldiers hostage, most of whom have been released.

Since then, Hezbollah resistance fighters and Lebanese military forces have been defending Lebanon on the country’s northeastern frontier against foreign-backed terrorist groups from Syria.

The Hezbollah fighters have fended off several Daesh attacks inside Lebanon. They have been providing assistance to Syrian army forces to counter the foreign-sponsored terrorism.

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