Sleiman in Arsal after deadly attack on army

President Michel Sleiman arrived on Wednesday morning on board a military chopper to Arsal where three Lebanese Army members were killed the day before after unknown assailants opened fire at them. He was accompanied by Army chief General Jean Kahwagi and state commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr who in turn tasked the military police and LAF intelligence unit with carrying out the preliminary investigations into the attack.         

Sleiman made a stop at an army barracks in Ras Baalbek and then headed to Arsal in a motorcade.

In a statement voiced by the President, Sleiman called for striking all those responsible for the attack against the military personnel with an iron fist. He also said that the killing of the soldiers is part of a terrorist plot aimed at creating sectarian tension and strife in the country, according to statement released by the Baabda Presidential Palace.                  

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, northeastern Lebanon.                  

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

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