Hermel Bomber Had Fake ID with Brital Man Name, Wanted to Stage Attack 'on Monday'

A fake ID carried by the suicide bomber who targeted the army checkpoint in Hermel has turned out to belong to a resident of the Bekaa town of Brital.

The bomber's picture replaced that of Brital resident Abbas Saleh on the ID, according to al-Jadeed TV.

In an interview with the channel, Saleh condemned the presence of his name on the fake ID and on a counterfeit driving license that were found at the blast site on the al-Assi Bridge in Hermel.

Saleh stressed that he does not have “a driving license or even a car.”

He described himself as a “victim” of the gangs that are counterfeiting identifications papers with the aim of using them in criminal acts.

Saleh's doctored ID had appeared in an al-Jadeed report in which the mother name and the birth date and place were clearly visible. The picture's section, however, was partially incinerated.

Later on Sunday, al-Jadeed reported that "another ID carrying the name of Abbas Saleh and a fake driving license carrying the same name" were found at the location, noting that both carried intact photographs of the suicide bomber.

“The ID is now in the possession of the Lebanese Army which is analyzing it,” al-Jadeed added.

According to security information obtained by LBCI television, the booby-trapped car “was headed for the town (of Hermel) where it was supposed to be blown up tomorrow (Monday).”

Members of the Criminal Evidence Department and the Judicial Police were scouring the area of the al-Assi Bridge in Hermel on Sunday.

The army is “rebuilding the military post after bringing cabins to the site and it has encircled the blast scene and created a makeshift road to Hermel,” LBCI said.

The final casualty toll stood at three dead – officer Elias Khoury, soldier Hamza al-Faitrouni and the civilian Mohammed Ayyoub – and 17 lightly injured, including soldiers and civilians.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew up a car rigged with explosives at an army checkpoint at the entrance to Hermel, in an attack that was claimed by a group calling itself al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, an apparent offshoot of the Syria-based extremist organization.