Army Stages Raids, Arrests Terror Suspects in Masharii al-Qaa

The army's Airborne Regiment staged raids on Friday in the Bekaa border town of Masharii al-Qaa in search of terrorists, media reports said.

Army troops raided the Syrian encampments in the area and searched for potential terrorists who might have infiltrated Lebanon's territories, added the reports.

Several Syrian suspects were arrested and taken to a military barrack in the region. Nineteen were kept for interrogation, they added.

The army has upped its security precautions after a string of suicide bombers attacked al-Qaa village on Lebanon's border with Syria on June 27.

Eight suicide bombers blew themselves up in the village, killing five people and wounding dozens.

Reports had initially suggested the attackers had come from nearby refugee settlements.

Al-Qaa lies on a main road linking the Syrian town of al-Qusayr to the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon.

Its 3,000 residents are predominantly Christian, but the Masharii al-Qaa district is home to Sunni Muslims and some 30,000 Syrian refugees live in a makeshift camp on the edge of the village.