Army Arrests Armed Syrians in Bekaa after Illegal Crossing

The Lebanese army has arrested 14 Syrians, some of them armed, after they entered Lebanese territories through illegal crossings, the state-run National News Agency reported Saturday.

NNA said the arrests were made in the eastern Bekaa Valley on Thursday and Friday.

Some of the suspects carried personal firearms and hand grenades, the agency said.

They were temporarily jailed in the Bekaa after the security forces failed to transport them to Beirut over the snowstorm that has blocked major roads.

The Lebanese army later said in a communique that it arrested on Friday night three Syrians at the Wadi Hmeid-Arsal area in northeastern Lebanon for entering Lebanese territories illegally.

The suspects were in a pick-up truck, it said.

The communique added that the army seized from them light arms, ammunition and hand grenades, in addition to wireless communications devices and military gear.

Military units have also arrested in the area of al-Dalhamiyeh in Shouf eight people in three different cars for the possession of arms and ammunition.

Some of them did not have identification papers, the communique said without specifying their nationalities.

Last Sunday, an army communique said a military checkpoint in Wadi Hmeid-Arsal stopped a Kia car carrying no license plates.

The car was transporting four Syrian nationals, among them a woman.

They were in possession of firearms and a number of hand grenades, the communique said.