ISIL Top Commander in Arsal Killed in Lebanese Army Raid

Wednesday, 3 February 2016

ISIL Top Commander in Arsal Killed in Lebanese Army Raid

A top terrorist commander of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri organization, Ons Khaled Zaarour, was killed Wednesday during Lebanese Army raids in Wadi Al-Araneb region in Arsal, east of Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.

Along with Zaarour, the army units killed another terrorist fugitive with ties to Syrian takfiri groups and arrested 27 individuals in raids on Wadi al-Arnab and al-Joumrok neighborhoods in the northeastern town of Arsal.

The groups were said to have links to the latest clashes in Arsal. Both ISIL and al-Nusra Front terrorist organizations have positions near the Lebanese border.

Moreover, the military soldiers carried out raids against field hospital in Arsal barrens, run by takfiri groups, and arrested 16 terrorists, including Ahmad Noun, suspected to be the mastermind behind the recent incidents in the border town.

A statement by the Lebanese army said the terrorists arrested were plotting to attack army positions in the area and to kidnap citizens from Arsal town.

Explosives and suicide belts were also confiscated. The army deployed in the town and patrolled its neighborhoods.

The military raided the house of Abdul Rahman al-Flaiti aka Nougo in the al-Joumrok neighborhood in Arsal and arrested seven people, bringing the number of arrests to 27.

In the Bekaa town of Zahle, the army apprehended Hassan Youssef al-Flaiti in Ablah, and Syrian Bassil Ahmed Salloum in the town of Mtayleb in Metn on suspicion of belonging to cell groups of "terrorist organizations", the army Orientation Directorate said in a statement.

Thirty-one Syrian nationals were also taken into custody in the northern district of Akkar for failure to possess identifications cards and for illegal entry to Lebanon.

The detainees were handed to the competent agencies.