Report: Hoblos was Seeking to Activate Dormant Terror Cells in Bekaa, Tripoli

Investigations with Sheikh Khaled Hoblos and two other suspects revealed that they were trying to activate dormant terrorist cells affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in eastern Bekaa Valley and the northern city of Tripoli.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Saturday, the arrest of Hoblos, who is wanted for his involvement in clashes with the army in Bhannine in late 2014, and two other accomplices were seeking to awaken sleeper cells in the Bekaa to carry out terror acts.

The newspaper said that security forces couldn't confirm the identity of Hoblos until he was transferred to Beirut's Internal Security Forces General Directorate as he told security members that he was the brother of Sheikh Hoblos during his arrest.

“Investigations showed that Hoblos forged his identification papers and changed his appearance to avert his apprehension.”

Sources told the daily that investigations are still at the first stages, estimating that “Hoblos will not easily confess.”

On Thursday, security forces succeeded in arresting Hoblos and killing Mansour and Ahmed al-Nazer in an ambush in Tripoli.

Two members of the ISF unit were seriously wounded in the clash that lasted about five minutes, added As Safir.

Security sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that “Hoblos informed investigators about his hideouts in (the northern district of) al-Koura and the venue of his meetings with Osama Mansour.”

An Nahar newspaper reported that Mansour and his group remained in Tripoli after the unrest in October.

The daily said that the group moved around in Tripoli wearing explosive belts, revealing that Mansour refused to join his accomplice Shadi al-Mawlai in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh.

Soon after the security operation, Sirajeddine Zureiqat, a so-called spokesman of the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, warned security forces of targeting Islamists in Tripoli.

Hoblos and Mansour had been wanted for taking part in clashes with the army in Tripoli in October 2014 and were suspected of links to jihadist organizations in Syria.

Mansour, along with prominent fugitive al-Mawlawi, was wanted for leading armed groups that engaged in deadly gunbattles with the army in Tripoli and its surrounding areas in October.

Mansour and al-Mawlawi were also charged with recruiting people for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks, assaulting the army and planting bombs.