Gunman Killed as Army Arrests Abdullah Azzam Brigades Official in Western Bekaa

The military institution announced on Wednesday arresting Abdullah Azzam Brigades official Jamal Daftardar in a town in a western Bekaa.

"After investigating the attack on an army checkpoint in (the southern city of) Sidon, the Intelligence Bureau arrested Daftardar after raiding an area in western Bekaa,” the army's communique detailed.

The statement noted that a gunman died of his wound during the raid to arrest the wanted suspect.

In December 2013, an unidentified attacker hurled a hand grenade at an army checkpoint on Sidon's northern entrance in the al-Awwali area, prompting troops to retaliate, which left a gunman dead and a soldier wounded.

Earlier on Wednesday, the state-run National News Agency said the army arrested Mazen Abu Abbas and another Syrian during the raid in the town of Kamed al-Lawz.

Abu Abbas is a suspect who had collaborated with the Abdullah Azzam Brigades chief.

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said Abu Abbas died after his arrest.

It also identified the Syrian suspect as a member of al-Qaida holding crucial information on Majed al-Majed, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades chief.

He is from al-Masri family, VDL said.

Media reports have said that a network operating form Kamed al-Lawz had helped al-Majed receive treatment in several hospitals before his death.

Al-Majed, a Saudi citizen, was believed to have serious kidney problems that require dialysis.

The army arrested him in December while heading in an ambulance from al-Makassed hospital in Beirut to the Bekaa Valley.

The military said that he later died while undergoing treatment at the central military hospital after his health deteriorated.

A statement issued by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades accused on Tuesday Hizbullah of killing al-Majed, saying his condition worsened in detention.

The statement posted on Twitter said al-Majed passed away after years of cultivating men capable of carrying on his project, adding that attacks will continue after his death.

The U.S. State Department designated his group a foreign terrorist organization in 2012.

The brigades have claimed responsibility for attacks throughout the region, including the 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and several rocket strikes from Lebanon into Israel.

The most recent attack claimed by the group was the double suicide bombing in November outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs that left scores of casualties, including an Iranian diplomat.