Army Busts Terror Cell, Potential Links to Kaftoun Crime

The Lebanese army busted members of a terror cell linked to the Islamic State group, with potential links to the crime in Kaftoun back in August, the Lebanese Army Command-Orientation Directorate reported on Saturday.

The Army said in a statement, the cell was in the process of carrying out terror acts inside Lebanon.

The vehicle of the cell’s commander and Emir, Khaled Tellawi, who is still at large, was used by the suspects involved in the Kaftoun crime that left three municipal police guards dead in August, added the statement.

“Eradication of this cell comes within the framework of pre-emptive operations and the permanent follow-up of the terrorist organizations and cells associated with it,” said the army statement.

Adding “the terrorist cell members were arrested on different dates in a series of security operations in the North and Bekaa regions. They had received military training, collected weapons and ammunition and carried out several thefts with the aim of financing the activities of the aforementioned cell.”

The military confiscated the weapons and ammunition in their possession.