Lebanon: two soldiers killed in terror attack

In a separate incident on Saturday, a Lebanese SWAT team killed several members of an ISIS cell near the Syrian border

Lebanese soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of their fallen comrade who was killed in an overnight shooting, in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on September 27, 2020. AFP

Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in the early hours of Sunday morning during a terror attack in north Lebanon, the army said.

At 1am on Sunday, a man riding a scooter named Omar Breiss attempted to force his way into an army post in the northern region of Minieh. The army said soldiers opened fire and killed him, and that hand grenades and an explosive belt were found on his body.

Corporals Muhammad Khaled Al Nashar, 29, and Ahmed Khaled Sakr, 18, died in the shoot-out. It was not made clear whether they were killed by friendly fire or the assailant started shooting. Both men were from the northern region of Akkar and were buried on Sunday afternoon.

The army arrested five of Breiss' relatives, according to the state-run National News Agency.

In a separate incident on Saturday, the Internal Security Forces killed members of an ISIS cell led by a Syrian national, identified by his initials, MH, near the remote town of Wadi Khaled on the Syrian border in north-east Lebanon.

Videos shared on social media of the incident show heavy shooting and smoke rising above the countryside.

The ISF said that a SWAT team surrounded an isolated house where the militants were holed up, claiming that they were linked to the murder of two municipal policemen and the son of the mayor of the northern village of Kaftoun on August 21.

The men shot at security forces with “light and medium weapons,” said the ISF. They were all killed in the ensuing shoot-out. Their exact number and nationalities remain unclear but the ISF said that “the intervention is still ongoing and results will be announced shortly”.

A security source told Agence France-Presse that "at least nine" suspected terrorists were killed but the death toll could rise as part of the house was blown up during the police operation and there might be bodies under the rubble.

In a press release on Sunday, President Aoun said that the “terrorist group infiltrated the region through the Syrian border.”

The nearly decade-long civil war in Syria has caused multiple security incidents in the Lebanese border region. In August 2017, the Lebanese army launched an operation to rid the area of various militant groups, including ISIS.