Suicide Vest Seized in Arsal Outskirts as Man Held for Smuggling Grenades

Security forces on Thursday seized an explosive vest and a quantity of arms during a raid in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal.

“Based on the confessions of a detained terrorist, and as part of its security duties, the General Directorate of General Security carried out a preemptive raid on a terrorist den in the Wadi Ata area in Arsal's outskirts, assisted by the Lebanese Army,” a General Security statement said.

“A suicide vest, weapons and various military equipment were seized,” it added.

“Efforts are still underway to arrest the rest of the terrorist cell's members,” General Security said.

Media reports said the detained militant is a Lebanese national from the Fliti family, which hails from Arsal.

Separately, the army arrested Lebanese national H. H. Ezzeddine after he drove his pickup truck past a military checkpoint in Arsal, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Five hand grenades and two binoculars were found in the truck,” it added.

The developments come three days after eight suicide bombers targeted the nearby border town of al-Qaa where the killed five people and wounded 28 others.

Militants from the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group are entrenched in rugged mountains along the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Lebanese army regularly shells their positions while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border.

The two groups overran the town of Arsal in 2014 and engaged in deadly battles with the Lebanese army for several days.

The retreating militants abducted around 35 troops and policemen of whom four have been executed and nine remain in captivity.