Army Cracks Down on Fugitives, Carries Out Large-Scale Raids in North

The Lebanese army carried out large-scale raids early on Wednesday in the northern coastal city of Tripoli and the region of Koura in search of suspects, as several armed men turned themselves in.

The army expanded its raids in the evening and arrested several suspects, including one accused of belonging to the group of Imad Jomaa, whose arrest on August 2 sparked deadly clashes with jihadist gunmen in the northeastern border town of Arsal.

Earlier, state-run National News Agency reported that the military carried out raids in Tripoli's Abi Samra neighborhood and Dahr al-Ain in the northern Koura district.

The army heavily deployed in the areas, erecting checkpoints.

An army reconnaissance drone accompanied the operations.

Later on Wednesday, the army announced in another statement that its forces raided places suspected of harboring gunmen in the Tripoli area of Abi Samra.

“Eight individuals were arrested, including 3 Syrians, while 3 Kalashnikov rifles, an RPG launcher, 10 grenades and a quantity of ammo and military equipment were seized in their possession,” the army added.

Another army unit raided Syrian refugee encampments in the Minieh region and arrested 8 people on suspicion of having ties to armed groups, according to the same statement.

Meanwhile, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said army commandos staged patrols in Mashta Hammoud, Mashta Hassan and Jabal al-Mansoura in the northern region of Wadi Khaled, arresting several fugitives.

The radio station had earlier reported that agents from the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau raided an apartment in Abi Samra that was occupied by Islamist cleric Sheikh Khaled Hoblos and confiscated a computer device.

Gunmen linked to Sheikh Hoblos, a previously unknown cleric, engaged in clashes with the army over the weekend in the town of Bhannine in the district of Akkar in the North.

A terrorist from Khalaf family, who is linked to the Hoblos group, was detained in the northern region of Minieh, the NNA said.

The military said in a communique on Wednesday that three wanted suspects turned themselves in to the army.

They were identified as Nasser Mahmoud al-Bohsa, Azzam Rashed Taleb and Salah Mohammed Abdulhayy.

The three, according to the army statement, engaged in armed clashes with the army in Bhannine.

The army has tightened its security grip in North Lebanon after deadly gunbattles with Islamist gunmen in Tripoli over the weekend.

VDL (93.3) reported that the army also raided Bustan al-Baghdadi neighborhood and detained four suspects, including a Syrian, for the involvement in sabotage operations.

At least 162 suspects have been arrested since Friday, the army said in a communique on Tuesday.

In the evening, an army force raided the town of Tal Maayan in the Akkar plain where it arrested seven people, NNA said.

Meanwhile, State Security agents arrested the Syrian Salim M. Kh. at a Syrian refugee gathering in the Akkar town of Khirbet Daoud.

NNA said the man is a defected Syrian army warrant officer who hails from the town of Qusayr, noting that he is suspected of “belonging to the group of the detainee Imad Jomaa and being the founder of the Iaasar al-Haq Brigade in Qalamun.”

The battle between the Lebanese army and extremists in northern Lebanon was widely expected after members of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, launched several attacks over the past weeks in areas on the border with Syria.

H.K./Y.R.