UNIFIL boosts security amid attack threat
United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Sunday took a number of strict security measures aimed at protecting its bases and soldiers following the arrest of three people accused of planning attacks against the peacekeeping forces, according to a report in Lebanon”s National News Agency.
Investigations connected to the arrest of the three men – General Security officer Mohammad Amer and two civilians Rifaat Al-Qadiri and Mustafa Bakkour, charged on Friday by a military judge for possessing explosives and accused of intent to commit terrorist acts – were still under way.
UNIFIL”s political adviser Milos Strugar said on Saturday the Lebanese army in co-operation with the international peacekeeping forces is "in charge of safeguarding the peacekeepers and their positions."
He added that he "would expect to be informed of the investigation”s further findings."
Local news reports said that the arrests took place in the Kafar Shuba district of southern Lebanon and that the explosives the men possessed were hazardous and potentially aimed at carrying out an attack on UNIFIL.
"The three men were caught in possession of vials containing unknown substances which have been sent to a laboratory to determine their contents," a judicial official told AFP on Friday.
Officials claimed that the arrests were made earlier this month following the confiscation of weapons and vessels by security forces; they also denied any link between the three accused men and the recent deadly bus bombings that occurred in Tripoli.
The local newspaper As-Safir reported on Saturday that the vessels were sent to a French laboratory for further testing and were described as "very dangerous."
The report also said that each of the vessels, claimed by the accused to be held for "commercial purposes," contained liquids that cost around a million dollars.
French officials were reportedly shocked by the magnitude of danger the vessels could cause, especially considering the large number of French peacekeepers that are present with UNIFIL.
In a separate development, municipality officials in the Bekaa towns of Qaa-al Rim and of Hizirta said on Sunday that Saturday”s clashes were individually motivated and not related to politics.
Clashes erupted late on Saturday in Qaa-al Rim between its local residents and those of nearby village Hizirta.
A verbal dispute escalated into clashes that involved the violent use of sticks, daggers and knives. Three people were wounded and were identified by police as Elie Saliba, Moussa Kfouri and Maroun Tannouri.
News reports on Sunday morning quoted eyewitnesses as saying that bullets were fired into the air during the clashes.
Representatives from both Qaa-al Rim and Hizirta assisted the army patrols and security forces that have been installed in the area in order to restore order in the village.