Army Arrests Terrorist Network that Planned Attacks on UNIFIL
The Lebanese army said Tuesday that it arrested a 10-member extremist network that was planning to carry out attacks against U.N. troops and smuggle wanted terrorists out of the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh.
"Our investigation has shown that this network was planning to smuggle wanted terrorists out of Ain el-Hilweh … smuggle Fatah al-Islam fighters into Ain el-Hilweh, to carry out attacks from Lebanon on targets abroad and create terrorist cells to monitor UNIFIL and the army in order to carry out terrorist attacks on them," an army communiqué said.
The suspects all hailed from unidentified Arab states and most were not Lebanese, the communiqué said.
Some of the suspects were employed in private companies in Lebanon and used their jobs as covers for their covert operations, the army added.
"This is an issue that the Lebanese army and Lebanese authorities are addressing," UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told Agence France Presse. "It is a matter that is in the hands of the Lebanese authorities."
Last month, high-level military sources said that the army had uncovered 25 cells spying for the Israeli Mossad and arrested since early 2009 six extremist groups belonging to al-Qaida.
The sources said the networks were planning attacks to target stability, including in areas where U.N. peacekeepers are deployed.