Lebanon: Raid on home of suspected fighter kills three
Military operation ends in a suicide blast that kills suspect and two family members north of Beirut.
Three people were killed and seven wounded after a suspected militant blew himself up during a Lebanese military operation north of Beirut on Saturday.
A military unit stormed the home of the wanted man at dawn in the town of Dar Amar near Tripoli. The supect threw two hand grenades before he detonated his explosive – killing himself, his mother, and niece, while wounding seven soldiers, an army statement said.
“The suspect was wanted since 2014 for firing at the army during clashes in Tripoli and for being part of a terrorist group that took part in fighting the army. The army will continue raids across Lebanon,” it said.
Earlier reports said another relative was also killed, but the army later clarified that wasn’t the case.
READ MORE: Lebanese army and al-Nusra Front conduct prisoner swap
The northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has for years witnessed violence between the majority Sunni neighbourhood of Bab al Tabbaneh and the Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen.
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| Lebanese army and al-Nusra Front conduct prisoner swap |
Fighting from the nearly five-year civil war in neighbouring Syria has spilled across Lebanon’s borders with armed groups such as al-Nusra Front and other Sunni organisations squaring off against Lebanese security forces and Hezbollah.
“These Salafist militant groups are very active. They are almost certainly going to try to carry out more operations,” Professor Rami Khouri from the University of Beirut told Al Jazeera. “But at the same time that their fighting, their also exchanging prisoners.”
In a deal brokered by Qatar, al-Nusra Front released 16 Lebanese security officers – soldiers and policemen – on Tuesday in exchange for 13 of its prisoners, including five women, held by the Lebanese government.