Conflict Incident Report

The Lebanese Army raided the house of an alleged drug lord in Beirut's southern suburbs, fatally shooting him after an exchange of fire, the military said in a statement. An army unit raided the house of Samir Monzer in the impoverished Ramel al-Ali area. The force came under fire from Monzer and other gunmen, compelling soldiers to respond to the sources of fire, the statement said. Monzer was killed in the raid, while Mahmoud Zureiq was wounded. The raid led to the arrest of seven suspects, the military said in its statement on Saturday. They were identified as Hisham Monzer, Fawzi Monzer, Yasser Khaddouj, Ali Monzer, Mohammad Haneino, Alaa al-Debs, and Syrian Mohammad Ezreiq.

The statement said that a quantity of arms, ammunition and drugs was confiscated in the possession of the gunmen, including 5 hand grenades, four pistols, a Klashnikov, ten surveillance cameras, a quantity of ammunition and military equipment, in addition to a quantity of various kinds of drugs and Hashish.

Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that Monzer has been able previously to evade more than one ambush by security forces. He is allegedly a prominent "drug barons" in Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood. The move comes following a number of raids carried out in Beirut's southern suburb by government forces. An area long considered off limits to state affiliated units. Security forces have been cracking down on drug dealers across Lebanon in an attempt to curb their activity.