Army Thwarts Infiltration Attempt in Outskirts of Ras Baalbek

The Lebanese army foiled overnight Sunday an incursion by militiamen on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa, the state-run National News Agency reported.

According to NNA, gunmen tried to infiltrate into Tallat al-Hamra area on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek but the army prevented them by shelling their positions using heavy and medium artillery.

Earlier in February, the military began targeting militants taking positions along Lebanon's eastern border with heavy artillery after bloody clashes with jihadists killed eight Lebanese troops and wounded several others in the Tallat al-Hamra area “when terrorists attacked a military surveillance post.”

The mountainous area has long been a smuggling haven, with multiple routes into Syria that have been used since the conflict began in March 2011 to transport weapons and fighters.

Syria's civil war has regularly spilled into Lebanon, with jihadists briefly overrunning the northeastern Lebanese town of Arsal in August after running gun battles with the army.

The jihadists withdrew after a ceasefire, but took with them several dozen hostages from the Lebanese army and police, four of whom have since been executed.