Rocket Hits al-Labweh as Army Bombs Militants in Outskirts of Nearby Towns

A rocket fired from an unidentified place landed Wednesday in an open field in the northern Bekaa town of Labweh, causing no casualties, state-run National News Agency reported.

Earlier in the day, the Lebanese army fired heavy- and medium-caliber weapons at suspicious movements by militant groups in the outskirts of the northern Bekaa towns of Arsal and Ras Baalbek, NNA said.

The shelling left several militants dead or wounded in the vicinity of the Arsal amusement park, the agency added.

The developments come amid a major security crackdown in the country in the wake of a twin suicide bombing in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh that killed 44 people and wounded around 240 others.

The attack was claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group.

The town of Arsal was the scene of fierce fighting in August 2014 between the Lebanese army and jihadists from the IS and al-Qaida's Syria affiliate al-Nusra Front.

As they withdrew from the town, the jihadists took dozens of Lebanese police and soldiers hostage and are still holding them in the hilly terrain on the town's outskirts.

Y.R.