Armed men rob stone quarry in Arsal, leave death threat for owner

The state-run national News Agency reported on Thursday that masked armed men robbed a stone quarry in the border town of Arsal, leaving a death threat letter for its owner.

“Eight masked armed men on board two 4x4 pickups – a GMC and a Tacoma – stole equipment at gunpoint from a stone quarry owned by Bilal Mahmoud al-Hujeiri in the Arsal area of Wadi Zaarour,” the agency noted.

The armed men asked workers to tell the owner that “his head is wanted by the Islamic State on charges of collaborating with the Lebanese army,” the agency added.

In September, jihadists from the IS and the Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front seized several bulldozers in Arsal and took them to its outskirts.

Fighters from the two groups had in August engaged in deadly battles against the Lebanese army in Arsal, during which they killed around 20 troops and abducted dozens of soldiers and policemen.