BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army said on Saturday that it arrested several people involved in shooting incidents in the Bekaa town of Hermel and the northern city of Tripoli’s Qobbeh region which resulted in the death of three people. An army communiqué said the military arrested 11 people involved in the shooting of a policeman in Hermel and seized arms and ammunition from them.
“Corporal Anwar Mohammad Nasseredine, who was in his 20s, was killed on the spot when gunmen opened fire from their jeep as he drove through the town in his private car,” a security official said Friday. “The incident was a settling of accounts in a family feud.”
Nasseredine’s clan attacked members of the Allaw family whom they blamed for shooting, said security officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Clans in the Hermel region, which is known for growing cannabis and opium, are heavily armed. Similar clashes have occurred in the past.
After sunset on Friday, dozens of armed men from both clans were in the streets of Hermel as Lebanese troops tried to stop the clashes.
The unrest came a day after Lebanese troops captured four men wanted in car theft cases and other crimes in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
In April, gunmen ambushed Lebanese troops in the Bekaa, spraying their military vehicle with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Four soldiers were killed and an officer was wounded in the attack.
The ambush also came after a push by Lebanese troops to crack down on the drug trade and hunt fugitives wanted for other crimes in the Bekaa, and the assault had the hallmarks of a revenge attack by clansmen.
Saturday’s Lebanese Army statement added that the army arrested several gunmen, who took part in Friday night’s Qobbeh clashes, which killed two men.
Security officials said on Friday that members of two families opened fire at each other leaving two dead and three wounded. The shooting erupted after drivers disagreed on who had right of way on the road, the officials said.
In other news, the Internal Security Forces arrested in the southern town of Nabatieh a four-member gang accused of stealing vehicles in the Bekaa and selling them on in the south, the National News Agency reported Saturday.
The NNA said an investigation with two other people, who were arrested Friday on the Ansar-Babliyeh road, led to the arrest of the men. Stolen vehicles were found in possession of the group. Several Lebanese citizens, who had bought the cars from the gang, were also brought in for questioning.
Meanwhile, security sources have warned that extremists could use advanced technology to carry out terrorist attacks against security forces and officials in Lebanon, Al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Saturday.
According to the newspaper, the sources said that an Arab national had visited the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh and delivered three Palestinians, who had been charged in absentia for carrying out terrorist activities, a CD that explains how to booby-trap cameras, mail packages and mobile phones. – The Daily Star, with Naharnet and AP
