Army Kicks Off Military Operation on Outskirts of Arsal, Causing Casualties in Ranks of Militants
The Lebanese Army carried out precautionary military operations against posts controlled by gunmen on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal and the Lebanese al-Qalamoun region, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
According to NNA, the military operation was carried out in the towns of Mar Tayba, Wadi Mira, al-Rahwa, Wadi al-Khayl and Wadi Hmeid.
Army helicopters and surveillance planes accompanied the movement of soldiers that inflicted casualties in the ranks of gunmen after illegal crossings were blocked with sand barricades, the news agency reported.
The military also prevented the wounded from entering the town of Arsal, except for Mohammed Hassan al-Hujeiri, who was wounded along with his family members in a room used by gunmen in Wadi Ajram.
NNA said earlier that three people were killed and two others were injured in a raid by Syrian planes on the outskirts of Arsal in a shelling that directly targeted a house in al-Ajram area.
However, al-Nusra Front issued a statement accusing a Lebanese drone of targeting the house of Mohammed Hujeiri.
The group said that Hujeiri and one of his children were killed while his wife and the remaining children were injured.
Arsal Municipality chief Ali Hujeiri told An Nahar newspaper published on Tuesday that warplanes raided the house of shepherd Mohammed Hussein Hujeiri, without confirming the number of casualties or the side responsible for the attack.
The town's peripheries have come under frequent Syrian raids ever since the revolt erupted in March 2011 in the neighboring county.
Arsal has become a key conduit for refugees, rebels and wounded people fleeing strife-torn Syria.
The border posts went up several weeks ago in the town, which was briefly overrun in August by Islamic State group and al-Nusra jihadists.
After days of clashes with Lebanese troops, the jihadists withdrew into the mountains along the border following a truce negotiated by clerics.
But they took with them security force members as hostages. Four have been executed and a fifth died of wounds sustained during the clashes.
H.K.
M.T.
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