Gunmen Attack Security Forces Destroying Cannabis Fields in Bekaa
A police vehicle was damaged and an officer was slightly injured on Monday when security forces came under gun and mortar fire while destroying cannabis crops in a town near the city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported.
An Internal Security Forces Nissan was hit with bullets and the officer, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was bruised after a bullet struck him in the back.
The ISF personnel came under fire although they were backed by the special panthers unit and army troops in their operation to destroy the crops in the town of Buday.
Police later briefly fired back at the source of intermittent gunfire.
Angry residents also blocked the Tal al-Abyad road in Baalbek to protest the move. But the army reopened it.
A similar operation to destroy cannabis was underway in Talia and Hermel.
By midday, 60 dunums of cannabis fields were destroyed, NNA said.
It added that the destruction of the cannabis fields will continue despite the attack against the security forces.
The army has since launched an investigation into the assault.
The Bekaa for long has been reputed as a fertile ground for drugs. During the civil war, the drug trade thrived into a multi-billion dollar business.
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