Two Syrians Arrested for Belonging to al-Nusra Front

Two Syrians were arrested in the eastern Bekaa region for belonging to a terrorist group, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the Army Intelligence arrested them in al-Labweh for being affiliated to the al-Nusra Front.

The detainees have been identified as Mohammed Idris and Abdul Muhaymen al-Abed.

The army has in recent months arrested scores of suspected extremists linked to the Syrian conflict.

The al-Nusra Front, completely unknown before the rebellion in Syria that began two years ago, has been a rebel standard-bearer since mid-2012 when it became the spearhead of the insurgency ahead of the Free Syrian Army.

The organization has been blacklisted in December by the United States as a "terrorist" organization and makes no secret of its aim for Syria to become an Islamist state.

The jihadists remain entrenched on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal on the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.

The mountainous area along the Lebanese-Syrian border has long been a smuggling haven, with multiple routes into Syria that have been used to transport weapons and fighters.

M.T.

H.K.