Army, Police Arrest Suspected Terrorists in Bekaa, North

The Lebanese army and police arrested on Thursday several suspects including a Lebanese and a Syrian on suspicion of having ties with terrorist organizations.

Judicial police apprehended Ali Mohammed Tareq Safsouf in the area of al-Ayrounieh in the northern Zgharta district, said the state-run National News Agency.

Safsouf, a Lebanese, is suspected of belonging to the Islamic State extremist group, it said.

Another suspected terrorist, a Syrian, was arrested by the Lebanese army in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The military said in a communique that it apprehended Walid Mohammed Kheir Ali Hussein in the town of Bar Elias on suspicion of having ties with terrorist groups.

His arrest came as part of a security crackdown by the authorities in the Bekaa.

Other arrested suspects included a Syrian, who had fake identification papers and was driving a car with no proper registration papers, and a Lebanese man who was smuggling food to the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal.

In the areas of Baalbek, Talya and Douris, the military said it detained a wanted Lebanese man and four others for driving unregistered cars.

G.K.

M.T.