Lebanese General Security on Monday announced the arrest of a Syrian charged with the selling of military weapons and munitions to militants in northeast Lebanon.
Following his arrest, the alleged weapons trader, identified by his initials T.Z., admitted to smuggling military weapons and munitions.
He said that he had been in touch with weapons traders and militant groups in order to secure the transfer of rockets, rifles, and military munitions to their locations on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal.
The location of his arrest was not disclosed by General Security.
An investigation is currently being carried out by security forces.
The army and security forces have been cracking down on militants as part of pre-emptive operations against extremist sleeper-cells to deter threats.
An army intelligence unit Friday arrested a man identified by his initials H.M.H in the central Bekaa valley town of Taalabaya “over charges of belonging to [Jabhat Fatah al-Sham - previously known as] the Nusra Front,” the National News Agency said Friday night.
Friday’s announcement coincided with Hezbollah’s handover of east Lebanon border positions to the Lebanese Army.
The army has regularly attacked positions of Daesh (ISIS) and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham near the Lebanese towns of Arsal and Ras Baalbeck, since the militant groups launched a major attack in that area in 2014.
Militants briefly overran Arsal and took more than 30 Lebanese soldiers hostage. Though most of the captives were eventually released, nine remain in captivity
