Wanted Militants in Army Custody in Northern Lebanon

A fugitive, who had fought Lebanese troops in the town of Bhannine, handed himself over to the military while another was arrested during a raid in northern Lebanon, the army said on Tuesday.

The military said in a communique that Ahmed Nsouh gave himself up when the army was carrying out a raid to search for fugitive militants.

Nsouh has been accused of “carrying arms with his accomplices to fight army units in Bhannine and its surrounding areas,” it added.

In a separate communique, the military announced the arrest of Omar Mohammed Briss for opening fire on the army in Bhannine.

Militants fought with the army in the northern city of Tripoli, Bhannine and nearby areas last month. The clashes left dozens of fighters, soldiers and civilians dead and injured.

The military rounded up scores of fighters after the gunbattles but many escaped. Among the fugitives are the leaders of a militia in Tripoli, Shadi al-Mawlawi and Osama Mansour.

Lebanese troops have been subjected to a wave of attacks over the past months.

The deadliest was in August, when jihadists from al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal.

They captured policemen and soldiers and killed several others. That attack was the most serious spillover of the civil war into neighboring Syria since the uprising there began in March 2011.

IS fighters have since beheaded two Lebanese soldiers. Al-Nusra Front militants have shot dead a third.

The military also said Tuesday that an army unit arrested three Syrians and an Egyptian in the area of Cola in Beirut for entering the country illegally.

G.K.

H.K.