Report: Army Received Information of Probable Assault Hours before Baabda Attack

The army intensified its search for the rocket launchers employed in the attack in the Baabda region on Thursday, reported An Nahar daily Saturday.

A security official told the daily: “Security agencies received information of a possibility of an attack taking place during the day when the army was commemorating Army Day.”

He added that they did not expect that the attack would take place at night, saying that the rocket launchers have not yet been found despite a thorough search.

The search included the school area in Bchamoun after several eyewitnesses said that they saw the two rockets being launched from the region, reported An Nahar.

The search also included Sarhmoul, al-Mounseh, Aramoun, and nearby areas.

The Army Command said on Friday that two 107 mm rockets were fired in the Baabda area on Thursday, adding that investigations are ongoing to determine the sources of the fire and uncover the perpetrators.

One of the rockets landed in the garden of the Freiha villa that is located near the Officers' Club and 100 meters away from the presidential palace.

The second rocket landed near the Khashoqji castle in al-Yarzeh.

The attack came on the same day that President Michel Suleiman gave a speech on the occasion of Army Day in which he criticized Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar Assad's forces.