Lebanon arrests suspect in mountain village massacre

Man accused of killing 10 people was discovered hiding in a garden near scene of the shootings

Lebanon security forces have arrested a man over the killing of 10 people including his wife, two brothers and two Syrian children.

Lebanon's National News Agency identified the suspect as Mazin Harfoush, and said he was arrested overnight.

The country was shocked by the discovery on Tuesday of nine bodies near the village of Baakline in the Chouf area south-east of Beirut, in what Prime Minister Hassan Diab described as an "appalling crime".

"Police found the perpetrator at 2am hiding in the garden of a home in the area of Ainbal near Baakline and detained him," a judicial source told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

"He admitted that he suspected his wife was cheating on him with his brother, so he decided to stab her to death in the marital home," the source added.

The man then invited his brother to join him on a hunting trip to the Baakline river, the judicial source said, where he killed him with a hunting rifle. His body was the 10th to be discovered.

The wife's family has denied accusations against her, in a statement published by local media. Here funeral was being on Thursday, NNA said.

The man went on a rampage after shooting his brother, killing anyone in his path, including six Syrians – among them a man and his two boys – and another brother, the source said.

Local media said another Lebanese man was also killed.

The hashtag #Baakline was trending on social media on Thursday, with users condemning the mass killings.

"Down with disgusting male excuses. He is a criminal and a killer," women's rights activist Hayat Mirshad wrote on Twitter.

The grisly events come as Lebanon is under lockdown to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, and grappling with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 war.