Slain Soldier Issa Buried in al-Rihaniyeh amid Anger and Grief
The Akkar town of al-Rihaniyeh on Thursday held a funeral for army soldier Milad Mohammed Issa, who was shot dead at dawn at the hands of unknown gunmen.
“Amid great anger and grief that engulfed the villages and towns of the Akkar district, the Army Command, the Issa family and residents of the town of al-Rihaniyeh and Akkar organized a funeral for the soldier Milad Mohammed Issa after the noon prayers,” the National News Agency said.
The soldier was then laid to rest at his family's cemetery in the town.
Earlier on Thursday, NNA and the army said Issa was killed and another soldier was injured at dawn when unknown assailants shot them in the northern Akkar district.
They said the gunmen, who were riding a motorcycle, opened fire at them at the junction of the town of al-Rihaniyeh around 5:15 am.
Issa was killed while Mohammed Fakhreddine Haidar was severely injured and taken to hospital.
Following the attack, the military carried out patrols in the area and erected checkpoints to find the suspects.
The shooting sparked anger among al-Rihaniyeh's residents, who on Thursday morning blocked the Qobayet-Halba highway near the town's road junction, NNA and the Traffic Management Center said.
The news agency added that the angry protesters called for the immediate arrest of the assailants and announced their support for the military.
The army has been facing rising assaults following the gunbattles between troops and Sunni extremists who overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.
Many Islamists in Lebanon accuse the army of backing Shiite Hizbullah, which has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support the regime of President Bashar Assad against rebels seeking to topple him.
G.K./Y.R.
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