3 Militants Killed as Army Thwarts Infiltration Attempt near Arsal

Three gunmen were killed overnight when the Lebanese army thwarted an attempt by militants to infiltrate an area on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal.

The state-run National News Agency said Friday that one of the dead jihadists is a Syrian member of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.

NNA identified him as Adham Shaddad.

The fighters died when the army repelled their infiltration attempt in the area of Wadi al-Hosn, the agency added.

The nearby border is long and porous, and has proved an easy crossing point for smugglers, refugees and fighters.

Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are being hosted in the town, and opposition fighters have bases in the mountainous border area outside Arsal.

The town was overrun briefly in August by al-Nusra Front and Islamic State group jihadists coming from Syria, who withdrew after several days of fighting.

They took with them some Lebanese policemen and soldiers as hostages, and have since executed four of them.

G.K.

M.T.