Conflict Incident Report

The Army announced that military units had arrested two suspects during a raid on the notorious northeastern border town of Arsal, a statement from the force reported. Lebanese national Aa.A. and Syrian national M.W. were arrested for allegedly harboring links to extremists in Arsal and were then referred to the judiciary for further investigation.

The Army and Army Intelligence Branch charged Aa.A. with arms trafficking and espionage. He is suspected on spying on the military’s maneuvers along the border and with sharing that intelligence with terrorist organizations.

M.W. was suspected of links to Daesh (ISIS) and of clashing with the Army. “These raids are part of a dayslong Army operation currently taking place in the northeastern border town,” a security source told The Daily Star on the condition of anonymity.

The arrests occurred in light of a wave of suicide attacks launched against an Army unit as it was conducting a raid on an Arsal refugee settlement on June 30th which left at least seven soldiers injured and killed a Syrian child. The offensive was the latest in the Army’s attempts to mitigate the threat stemming from the hard-line militants from Daesh and Jabhat Fath al-Sham which remain hole up around Arsal’s outskirts.

Hezbollah, which maintains a heavy presence along the Syrian side of the border, is expected to launch an imminent offensive against the militants aimed at vanquishing them from Lebanese soil.