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Syrian gunman killed by Lebanese army

07 September 2014 00:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Lebanese army shot dead a Syrian gunman and arrested two others on Saturday after they opened fire at an army patrol in the Bekaa town of al-Qaa, according to the National News Agency (NNA), APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Three individuals who were riding a motorbike fired at a Lebanese army intelligence patrol at the main entrance of al-Qaa, the NNA said, adding that the patrol fired back, killing a Syrian national, wounding another and arresting a Lebanese man.

The gunmen's weapons were seized, while the wounded was transferred to the Hermel government hospital and the detainee to the relevant authorities.

Al-Qaa neighbors the border town of Arsal, which witnessed deadly clashes in early August that lasted five days between the Lebanese army and Syrian Islamist gunmen who infiltrated the town following the arrest of Imad Jomaa, a leader of al-Qaeda linked al- Nusra Front. In the wake of the gun battles, army intelligence agents raided Syrian refugee camps across all Lebanese regions and arrested many suspects.

Statistics show that Lebanon now hosts more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees, but the Lebanese authorities claim that the real number had crossed 1.5 million. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, more than 18 percent of the displaced Syrians live in randomly erected camps across the country.