2 Soldiers Dead in Roadside Bombing in Arsal

Two soldiers were killed and three others wounded on Friday after their vehicle was targeted by a roadside bomb in the northeastern border town of Arsal, announced the military in a statement.

The army soon cordoned off the area while a military expert arrived at the scene.

The military police has taken over investigating the incident.

The Army Command later identified the slain troops as Ali Ahmed Hamadi al-Kharrat and Mohammed Assem Daher.

Kharrat hails from the southern city of Sidon while Daher hails from the Akkar town of Aidamoun, according to the army's statement.

Earlier, media reports said the truck, which was transporting seven soldiers, was attacked in the Wadi Hmeid region.

MTV said that Arsal residents transported the wounded soldiers to hospitals in the area.

Later on Friday, the army fired heavy weapons after detecting movements by armed groups in Arsal's outskirts, said NNA.

OTV added that the bomb, weighing 20 kilograms, was remotely detonated.

In the evening, NNA said the army retaliated after being targeted by gunfire from the posts of the armed groups in Arsal's outskirts.

The army's shelling resulted in the death of Syrian national Ahmed Mohammed Durra who hails from the Qalamun town of Jrayjir and the wounding of Jamal Abdullah al-Hujeiri, the agency added.

“Hujeiri was transferred to the Dar al-Amal hospital in Douris and he is wanted over terror charges,” NNA said.

Meanwhile, a rocket fired landed in the plain of the nearby town of al-Labweh after being fired from the Eastern Mountain Range on the border between Lebanon and Syria, the agency reported.

Following the bombing, Prime Minister Salam contacted Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel urging them to be prepared to confront the takfiri forces.

Hizbullah later condemned the attack against the army, calling for “uniting around the military in its confrontation of terrorist threats.”

The party saluted the “bravery of the soldiers in preventing the infiltration of terrorists over the border.”

Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri contacted Qahwaji to condemn the Arsal attack, “which is aimed at framing the town and its residents.”

He also called for supporting ongoing efforts aimed at releasing the soldiers and policemen held captive by Islamist militants.

Friday's terrorist attack came hours after the army said it had arrested a Lebanese and two Syrians in the area of al-Mesyada in Arsal.

It identified them as Arsal native Bassam Youssef al-Hujeiri and Syrians Ahmed Samir and Fadi Ammar al-Halabi.

The Syrians admitted to belonging to terrorist organizations, the military added.

Arsal, close to the border with Syria, was the scene last month of a major battle between the Lebanese army and jihadists who had streamed across the frontier.

At the end of the clashes in August, the jihadists took with them soldiers and policemen as captive, and two of them have since been beheaded.

G.K./M.T./Y.R.