Abou Ahmed Jomaa... The Man Who Sparked the Arsal Clashes
Abou Ahmed Jomaa, the men who fueled Saturday's clashes in the Bekaa town of Arsal, hails form the Syrian border town of Qusayr and has confessed upon his arrest to belonging to the al-Qaida-inspired al-Nusra Front.
Jomaa was detained at an army checkpoint on Saturday, and he was referred to relevant authorities for further investigation.
The terrorist suspect is known to be a prominent figure of armed Islamic organizations, and he led the Fajr al-Islam brigade that fought in al-Qusayr in later in Syria's Qalamoun.
According to a Syrian activist who resides in Arsal, Jomaa worked closely with al-Nusra and other small military groups of the Syrian opposition, particularly in the Qusayr battles.
Jomaa frequently traveled inside the Bekaa region and its plains where he provided support for gunmen in the area, the same source said.
He recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a videotaped message.
Syrian activists revealed that Jomaa had recently developed a thermal rocket that is used against warplanes.
His invention targeted a plane near the Kowayres military airport in Syria's Aleppo, the sources added.
Jomaa's arrest on Saturday sparked heavy clashes between the army and Syrian gunmen in Arsal, leading to the death of at least four people including two soldiers.
S.D.B.
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