Lebanon’s General Security arrested on Monday a Lebanese national suspected of planning suicide attacks to target military posts and the Serail in the northern city of Tripoli.
Lebanon's General Security arrested on Monday a Lebanese national suspected of planning suicide attacks to target military posts and the Serail in the northern city of Tripoli, the National News Agency reported.
The directorate said in a statement that a "General Security unit raided the suspect's house in Tripoli's Qobbeh and arrested him for belonging to a terror group and plotting suicide attacks in Lebanon."
The suspect was identified by the initials A.A.
He allegedly confessed to taking part in battles between Tripoli neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbanneh, pledging allegiance to the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group and joining its ranks in Syria's Qalamoun region, where he was trained.
The suspect, according to the statement, also recruited several Lebanese youth to join ISIL and participate in battles against the Lebanese Army in Tripoli's souks with the group of another suspect identified as N.S.
The latter tasked the suspect with manufacturing bombs and preparing suicide attacks against army positions and the Serail of Tripoli "in an attempt to create sedition and ignite strife," the statement added.
The arrest comes a few days after General Security announced the arrest of what it called a prominent ISIL leader, along with other suspected militants who were based in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh.
The cell was reportedly plotting to assassinate political leaders and detonate booby-trapped vehicles across the country.
Lebanese security forces have been cracking down on Islamist militants since the outbreak of the Syrian war more than four years ago.
ISIL and al-Nusra Front takfiri groups maintain a presence on Lebanon's northeastern border, on the outskirts of Arsal.
The two groups overran the town in August 2014 and engaged in deadly clashes with the Lebanese Army, capturing nearly 40 soldiers and policemen. They beheaded five personnel and twenty-five others remain captive.
