6 IS Militants Killed, 16 Held in Special Army Operation in Arsal Outskirts

The Lebanese army killed six terror fugitives on Wednesday and arrested 16 individuals in raids on Wadi al-Aranab and al-Joumrok neighborhoods in the northeastern town of Arsal, an army statement said.

The groups were said to have links to the latest clashes in Arsal.

The military carried out raids on positions of the terror group of Ahmed Ammoun, the mastermind behind the recent incidents in the border town, injuring him in the back, and killing Islamic State militant Anas Khaled Zaarour.

Ammoun was arrested together with Abou Bakr al-Raqawi and a group of Syrian nationals committing to the Islamic State group.

Explosives and suicide belts were also confiscated.

The army deployed in the town and patrolled its neighborhoods.

"It was our largest operation against Daesh... in terms of size and the number of people killed and captured," a military spokesman told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

The army said in a statement that its "lightning" raid was launched on the basis of information that the jihadists were planning attacks on military posts and to kidnap civilians in Arsal.

Moreover, the military raided the house of Abdul Rahman al-Flaiti aka Nougo in the al-Joumrouk neighborhood in Arsal and arrested seven people, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said.

The dead body of a Syrian man was found in the trunk of a vehicle that belongs to Nougo, it added.

In the Bekaa town of Zahle, the army apprehended Hassan Youssef al-Flaiti in Ablah, and Syrian Bassil Ahmed Salloum in the town of Mtayleb in Metn on suspicion of belonging to terror cells, the army orientation directorate said in a statement.

Thirty-one Syrian nationals were also taken into custody in the northern district of Akkar for failure to possess identifications cards and for illegal entry to Lebanon.

The detainees were handed to the related authorities.

Later during the day the army raided an IS hospital in Arsal and arrested 16 terrorists including Ahmed Noun.

The terror group had plans to target army position and kidnap citizens from Arsal.

D.A.

G.K.