REPORT: 3 LAF soldiers beaten, shot in the head near the town of Arsal

Three Lebanese Armed Forces' soldiers were killed on Tuesday after unknown assailants opened fire at them at 3 am dawn in the region of Wadi Hmeid on the outskirts of Arsal, North Eastern Lebanon.       

The LAF took airtight measures in the region in order to identify the assailants who escaped towards the Syrian territories.             

In this regard, a security source told LBCI that the soldiers' checkpoint in Arsal was stormed with a Hummer, their arms seized, after which they were beaten and shot in their heads, adding that the rest of LAF soldiers at the military checkpoint opened fire at the five assailants, who managed to escape.               

A military source also told LBCI that most of the assailants who opened fire at the LAF soldiers are Syrian nationals.             

The soldiers who were killed in Arsal were identified as: Ali Monzer, Mustafa Hayek and Mohamad Sharaf Eddine, and were rushed to Beirut's military hospital.             

This as schools and shops in the town of Arsal closed their doors in protest of the heinous attack that targeted the soldiers.            

It is not the first time the LAF soldiers fall victim to the Arsal violence. LAF troops were ambushed in Arsal on Friday February 1st, 2013, while trying to detain fugitive, Khaled Hmeid, suspected of involvement in the 2011 kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists who were abducted in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley and held for nearly four months before being released in July that year.                                

Khaled Hmeid was injured in the raid and subsequently succumbed to his wounds. Shortly after his capture around 80 gunmen adamant on avenging Hmeid's capture followed the LAF troops who reportedly were stuck on the road leading out of the town due to the accumulation of snow. The gunmen attacked the troops leaving Major Pierre Bachaalany and Adjutant Ibrahim Zahraman for dead. The two were then taken alongside the remaining injured troops to the towns municipality and paraded in a show of celebration.


Reactions:      

Residents of Kobayat blocked the main road linking Halba to Kobayat, near Khraibet al- Jundi roundabout, in solidarity with the Lebanese Armed Forces after the killing of the three soldiers in Arsal.                    

The State Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Saqr Saqr tasked the LAF Intelligence Directorate and the military police to launch preliminary investigations and to reveal the area where gunshots were fired toward the soldiers.      

Arsal Mayor Ali Houjairi told LBCI that "today's incident is not related to previous incidents," noting that "the residents of Arsal are not involved in the attacks against the LAF soldiers". He added that Arsal voices solidarity with the army.     

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati telephoned LAF Commander General Jean Kahwaji who briefed him on the Arsal incident, stressing that he is adamant on preserving security in the country.          

Mikati also stressed that the Lebanese people support the military institution in the wake of escalating tensions across the country. He highlighted the decisions of the cabinet and the Supreme Defense Council that aim at granting the LAF full authority to take all measures it deems necessary.     

In turn, Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam denounced the attack against the LAF, and mentioned that those who were behind it are ‘criminal cowards’.

Also the Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea condemned the attack, and called for halting all preliminary assumptions and conclusions.  

For his part the Kataeb Party Leader Amine Gemayel denounced the attack and mentioned that it was an attempt to disrupt the role of the military institution.               

Likewise, the Head of the Future Movement decried the aggression against the LAF soldiers.


To watch the full LBCI report, please click on the video above.