Suicide Vests Seized in Tripoli as Suspects who Contacted Would-Be Bomber Held

“Large quantities” of explosives, “armed” suicide vests and detonators were seized Tuesday in the northern city of Tripoli as the Internal Security Forces arrested a number of suspects accused of having communicated with a would-be suicide bomber prior to his arrest, media reports said.

A patrol from the Intelligence Bureau's Strike Force carried out raids in the city's al-Qobbeh district where it arrested several terror suspects, LBCI television said.

The suspects had been “in contact with the detainee Ibrahim al-Jamal, who was arrested a week ago in al-Qobbeh carrying a suicide belt,” LBCI said.

“Large quantities of explosives, armed suicide vests and detonators were seized,” it added.

The ISF also raided Tripoli's al-Dam wal Farz area, arresting two men suspected of having ties to the two Islamic State suicide bombers who blew themselves up in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, LBCI said.

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) identified one of them as Ahmed Merhi, noting that the raiding force had seized all CCTV footage from the area's cafes.

In the evening, state-run National News Agency said an Intelligence Bureau force raided a house in Akkar's Burqayel "in connection with the arrests that were made in al-Qobbeh."

"The house's owner was arrested as two assault rifles were seized," it added.

Nine Syrians and two Lebanese suspects were arrested Sunday in several Lebanese regions in connection with Thursday's deadly suicide bombings in Bourj al-Barajneh.

The blasts, which were staged by two IS suicide bombers, killed 43 people and wounded around 240 others, in the worst such attacks in years.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced that "the whole suicide bombing network and its supporters were arrested in the 48 hours following the explosion," calling the arrests "an extraordinary achievement."

"The detained include seven Syrians and two Lebanese, one of them a (would-be) suicide bomber and the other a trafficker who smuggled them across the border from Syria," Mashnouq said.

Y.R.