3 Syrian nationals arrested in Ballouneh rocket attack case

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr arrested on Saturday 3 Syrian nationals on suspicion of being involved in the Ballouneh rocket attack case.

The arrested men were referred to the Investigative Military Judge Fadi Sawan.

On the 21st of June, two missile launch pads were found in Ballouneh, one of them with a still rocket on it while the other was empty.

Sources reported that a technical malfunction prevented the second missile from being launched from Ballouneh, with the first missile having crashed in the electrical cable wires at the Jamhour power plant.

On another note, Judge Saqr arrested a supporter of the Imam Bilal bin Rabbah mosque Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir on suspicion of being involved in Abra's incidents who was referred to Judge Sawan.

Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir is a hard-line Sunni cleric who disappeared during a shootout with the Lebanese army in the coastal city of Sidon.

He released a recording on Thursday [July 4] on the Internet, in which he accused the army of conspiring with the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah against him.

Al-Assir did not disclose his whereabouts. Relatives in Sidon confirmed it was his voice.

Eighteen soldiers were killed in the clashes with al-Assir's armed supporters last month in Sidon.

A military prosecutor has charged him and more than two dozen of his supporters with forming an armed group, undermining the military and stirring up sectarian hatred. Among those charged were 10 people still at large including al-Assir.