LA Soldier Martyred in North Lebanon Attack

Local Editor

A Lebanese soldier was killed and several others wounded early Friday when a military bus carrying troops along the road in Bireh in the northern Akkar province came under gunfire.

Sources said a number of soldiers were also wounded in the attack, but would not give an exact number.

Qobeiyat Mayor Abdo Makhoul, however, said three soldiers were wounded.
Sorrow and grief gripped the town, and resident blocked the Qobeiyat road in protest.

Almost simultaneously, housing units for Army officers and their families in the Tripoli neighborhood of Qibbeh came under fire, the security source said.
Hours later, another Lebanese soldier was wounded when an Army patrol in Zahriyeh, Tripoli, came under gunfire. He was identified as Jamal Ashek.

Shortly afterward, the Lebanese Army found a 200 gram homemade bomb near a shop in the Tripoli neighborhood of Abi Samra. Experts safely detonated the explosive device.
Both mobile phone networks - touch and Alfa - were down during the military operation in Tripoli.

As part of their hunt for the bus attackers, Lebanese troops raided the house of Atef Saadeddine, a soldier who had deserted the Army, in the northern region of Khirbet Daoud. No arrests were made.

However, an individual in the Tripoli neighborhood of Akoumi was arrested later in the day for his involvement in opening fire on an Army checkpoint in a previous attack.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team