Bomb Found near House of Arsal Municipal Chief

An explosive device was discovered Sunday outside the house of Bassel al-Hujeiri, the municipal chief of the restive northeastern border town of Arsal, state-run National News Agency reported.

It said the army was dismantling the bomb that weighs “around five kilograms of extremely explosive substances.”

The explosive device was set for “remote detonation,” the agency added.

Hujeiri and several Arsal figures have reportedly received death threats from the Islamic State group.

Sunday's finding comes four days after a bomb was found in Arsal's Ras al-Sarj area and six days after another explosive device targeted an army vehicle in the same area, lightly injuring five soldiers.

Militants from the IS and Fateh al-Sham Front -- formerly al-Qaida's Syria affiliate al-Nusra Front -- are entrenched in rugged areas along the undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border and the army regularly shells their posts while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on the Syrian side of the border.

The two groups briefly overran the town of Arsal in August 2014 before being ousted by the army after days of deadly battles.

The retreating militants abducted more than 30 troops and policemen of whom four have been executed and nine remain in the captivity of the IS group.