2 Militants Dead as Army Stops Infiltration Attempts

The Lebanese army has thwarted an attempt by gunmen to infiltrate Lebanese territories in the eastern Bekaa Valley, leaving two militants dead, the military and state-run National News Agency said on Monday.

Two militants were killed and five injured in the areas of al-Misyada and Wadi Hmeid in an ambush on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, they said.

The army transported the two bodies to Hermel's state hospital.

NNA identified the gunmen as Islamic State group militants Mohammed Kanj and Ali Mtaweh.

Later, the military shelled the positions of gunmen on the outskirts of Arsal and Ras Baalbek.

In the afternoon, the army shelled a group of IS militants who tried to infiltrate from Syria into the outskirts of the al-Naamat area in Lebanese territory, NNA said.

“The Lebanese army's artillery bombardment thwarted their infiltration attempt and forced them to retreat,” the agency added.

The militants from al-Nusra Front and the IS are taking the porous Lebanese-Syrian border as a hiding place.

Their threat rose in August last year when they overran Arsal and took with them hostages from the military and police following deadly clashes.

They have since executed four of them.

The army regularly clashes with the militants and thwarts their attempts to infiltrate Arsal.

G.K./Y.R.