Militant ambush kills seven army soldiers in northeast Lebanon

Al Akhbar

Published Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Updated at 7:33 pm (GMt +2): Militants ambushed a Lebanese army unit on the outskirts of Ras Baalbeck Tuesday, killing seven, sources toldAl-Akhbar.

For the past few months, the military has been coming under increasing armed attacks, mainly in the country's northeastern region.

Earlier on Tuesday, a security source said that the army detained the wife and young child of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi near the Syrian border 10 days ago.

The arrest is a blow to Baghdadi and could be used as a bargaining chip against his group and al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front which attacked the Lebanese border town of Ersal in August and abducted at least 28 Lebanese soldiers and policemen.

Since then, ISIS beheaded two Lebanese soldiers, and Nusra shot a third.

Sources told Al-Akhbar in November that the fate of the hostages was no longer in the hands of militants in the Qalamoun area, where the soldiers are being held, but in the hands of ISIS leader and its self-proclaimed “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The Ersal violence has left 16 soldiers dead and 85 wounded, while dozens of jihadists are said to have been killed, along with three civilians.

In October, Lebanon witnessed severe clashes between the army and ISIS and al-Nusra jihadists in the northern city of Tripoli that left 42 people dead, including 11 soldiers and eight civilians.

(Al-Akhbar)

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