Report: Security Intensified in North over Fears of Terrorist Attack against Military

Security measures have been intensified in the North amid reports that terrorist groups are seeking to attack a military post in the area, said As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

A security source told the daily that terrorists are planning on attacking the post that is located near a major tourist resort south of the city of Tripoli.

Furthermore, it cited the recent infiltration attempts by gunmen into the northeastern border region of Arsal as a sign that these forces are seeking to break the army's siege of the area.

They are trying to sway the balance of power in their favor following the army's increased presence in the area given the clashes it waged with gunmen in Arsal in August, explained the source.

Meanwhile, another security source told As Safir that the recently detained Mahmoud Abou Abbas can be described as “another Naim Abbas.”

Arrested by Army Intelligence in the town of Majdal Anjar, the source said that he is the mastermind and executor of a number of bombings in Lebanon.

He helped in transporting explosive devices, terrorists, and booby-trapped vehicles in the country.

He is also linked to various terror groups and reportedly assisted the suicide bombers behind the Dahr al-Baydar and Tayyouneh blasts that took place in June.

Naim Abbas is a detained top official in the al-Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

He is charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks and preparing and transporting booby-trapped vehicles from Syria to Lebanon to detonate them in residential areas.

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

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.

M.T.

D.A.