Army Arrests Gunmen Infiltrating Arsal from Syria, 'Suicide Vest' Seized
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Lebanese army on Thursday arrested three gunmen who were trying to infiltrate the Bekaa border town of Arsal and found weapons and a “suicide vest” in their possession.
“As part of the mission of controlling the land borders, army troops arrested three gunmen who were trying to infiltrate the Arsal area this afternoon,” an Army Command statement said.
“Two of them are Palestinian nationals, one carrying a European passport, and the third is a Syrian,” the statement added.
“In addition to personal firearms, an armed suicide vest and a number of hand grenades and fuses were found in their possession,” the statement said, adding that the gunmen and the seized arms were referred to the relevant authorities and that an investigation got underway.
On July 14, the army arrested a number of individuals for transporting weapons in Arsal.
The Beirut-based, pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen said those arrested were two Syrians, a Lebanese and two Palestinians who were carrying "suicide vests."
Border areas in the north and east have been struck by frequent cross-border shelling and clashes linked to the Syrian crisis, while the Syrian regime has told Lebanon to better control its porous border to prevent the smuggling of fighters and arms.
Lebanon is sharply divided over the war in Syria and Arsal is a particular flashpoint as refugees from the uprising and fighters and smugglers hostile to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad traverse the border.
08 August 2013, 23:19
55
Firing Squad? No khayee we here at naharnet would never advocate such a measure against these freedom fighters working for democracy in Syria!
09 August 2013, 08:20
03
who told you that the islamists are freedom fighters. They just take advantage of the mess in syria and the revolution against the tyrant regime to establish their own tyrant regime.
09 August 2013, 00:33
34
The point should be made that the flow of weapons and terorists goes both ways , increased security on the border is the answer but one that stop weapons coming inand out of lebanon.
09 August 2013, 07:23
10
Mr. Foreign Minister, - What no complaint of border violations. You have them under arrest so they can't deny it. Sorry I forgot they are not Israelis, but your beloved Syrian brothers.
09 August 2013, 09:14
00
What we’ve heard the last few years from the voices of reason has been a plea for HA to stop monopolizing the idea of "resistance" and that the only weapons that should exist are those that belong to the army. Otherwise, opposing groups would start adopting HA's justification and turn the state info a battlefield. Well, we have now reached this stage and instead of HA sympathizers being honest with themselves and admitting that anarchy breeds anarchy, they've transcended the outer edges of reality by taking the position that if it wasn't for HA's arms, these other "terrorist" groups would be running amuck. In actuality, it is only because of HA's arms that other groups have justified taking up arms themselves. Anyone who is outside the legitimate armed forces must submit his weapons. If we are to be victorious against our common enemy, it needs to be done hand-in-hand on equal footing with no one claiming to have inalienable rights above anyone else.
09 August 2013, 10:56
00
What is your deal phillipo:what reason does the fm have for filing a violation of its borders when it's terrorists that are infiltrating borders.
I think since it does the same with the terrorist blood-hungry israelis it should do the same with these people.then again the u.n. can't sanction or order those on whom their instructions fall on deaf ears(al qaida, terrorists), much like how israel's stances on u.n. resolutions.
09 August 2013, 14:05
10
Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no Syrian cousins. At least none that I know of.
