Lebanese troops arrest 103 Syrians after series of deadly bombings near border

They were arrested for illegal entry into the country.

Lebanese special forces patrol Qaa on June 28, 2016, a day after nine bombings struck the small Christian village. AP Photo

BEIRUT // Lebanese troops on Tuesday detained 103 Syrians for illegal entry into the country during a security sweep, a day after a series of deadly bombings struck a village near the Syrian border.

The army said it carried out security raids in six areas of the Baalbek region, which has many informal Syrian refugee settlements. Nine motorcycles and two vehicles were confiscated and two Lebanese were arrested with illegal weapons.

The government warned of a mounting challenge in Lebanon, underlining the magnitude of Monday’s attacks on the small Christian village of Qaa.

“The attack on the Lebanese national security and the unfamiliar manner in which it was executed usher in a new kind of phase in the state’s confrontation with the dark forces of terrorism,” a cabinet statement said.

The nine bombings – eight of which were carried out by suicide attackers – killed five people and triggered fear and panic among Qaa’s residents. They also worsened a deepening sense of foreboding in Lebanon, which has grappled with spillover from Syria’s war for over five years.

Tuesday was declared a national day of mourning and authorities postponed funerals for the five killed in Monday’s bombings, citing security reasons. A major religious event scheduled in the capital by Hizbollah was also postponed.

Also citing security concerns, the ministry of culture postponed the opening of the Bacchus Temple, part of the famed ruins of Baalbek, while a troupe of Syrian actors roaming the Bekaa Valley with a performance about refugee woes postponed its tour. A limited curfew was imposed in Qaa and the surrounding area.

Monday’s explosions, four in the early morning and five at night, also wounded nearly 30 in Qaa. Two of the night-time bombers blew themselves up outside the village church as people gathered for funerals of those killed earlier in the day.

One detonated his explosives as he was chased by troops, the army said, while the other blew himself up near a military post when guards fired at him. No one was killed in those two blasts but 13 were wounded. Minister of interior Nouhad Machnouk said initial investigations indicate that most of the bombers were from inside Syria and not refugees. He didn’t elaborate.

Private Lebanese television station OTV aired what it said was footage from security cameras in Qaa, purporting to show a young man involved in the attack. The footage shows the young man with a backpack heading to a gathering outside the church, apparently to blow himself up.

Qaa and nearby Ras Baalbek are the only two villages with a Christian majority in the predominantly Shiite Hermel region, where Hizbollah holds sway. The group has sent thousands of its fighters to Syria to bolster president Bashar Al Assad’s forces against the predominantly Sunni rebels trying to topple him.

Hizbollah’s Al Manar TV blamed Monday’s attacks on ISIL. Al Mustaqbal newspaper, which is owned by a rival group of Hizbollah’s, suggested the army was the target of the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Sunni extremists have carried out several attacks in the border area since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011, leading the Christians of Qaa to set up self defence units for their village.

* Associated Press