Police Arrest Syrian Gang Led by Woman for Robbing, Killing 8 People

Security forces have arrested a four-member gang led by a Syrian woman on suspicion of murdering several people for the purpose of committing robberies, the Internal Security Forces General Directorate announced on Monday.

Around ten days ago, the security forces from the Baalbek police station lured Jamileh Mashhadani to an area outside the northeastern border town of Arsal and arrested her, An Nahar newspaper said.

Her 14-year-old brother Jassem Atiyyeh, who was accompanying her, was also apprehended for being an accomplice.

An Nahar said that Mashhadani has admitted to killing Suleiman al-Hujairi, a resident from Arsal, and seven Syrian refugees with the help of Sami al-Daas, her half-brother, and another Syrian named Ammar Hamashou.

"On April 2, 2014, Suleiman al-Hujairi, 27, was found dead inside his car on the al-Jamala street in Arsal,” the ISF said in a statement released on Monday.

The ISF noted that al-Hujairi had received several bullets to the head, leading to his death.

"After intense investigation, the Baalbek police station managed to identify and locate the assailants and arrest two of them after raiding their house in Arsal,” the statement said.

But security forces failed to arrest al-Daas and Hamashou after they escaped to Arsal's outskirts and joined gunmen there.

The woman also admitted to luring her well-off victims to uninhabited places by seducing them.

The interrogation took place in the presence of a delegate from the juvenile detention facility, the ISF statement remarked.

Her accomplices killed the victims either by shooting them or by stabbing them, and then sold their belongings such as gold and cars to the rebels.

G.K./ S.D.B.