The Lebanese Army Monday deployed heavily in north Lebanon after a soldier was killed and another wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire at any army post overnight.
Two soldiers were initially wounded in the shooting, but the army said in a statement Monday that one of the soldiers had succumbed to his wounds.
Army units conducted raids in the Bqaa Sifrin town in Dinnieh in search of the gunmen, while military helicopters hovered over the areas of Dinnieh and Akkar to assist infantry units.
Media reports said that the armed men targeted the 10th Infantry Brigade post Sunday night.
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported that so far seven suspects have been arrested.
Bqaa Sifrin Mukhtar, a local official, denounced the attack in remarks to VDL (93.3), saying that the residents of the town "will support the military in any step it decided to take, lifting the cover off the culprits."
He called on security agencies to swiftly uncover the assailants.
Local newspapers reported Monday that the attack was in retaliation for the arrest of suspects linked to extremist groups in Syria.
Hundreds of suspects – Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and other nationalities – have been held in Lebanon over their alleged ties to extremist groups as part of a crackdown on extremism across the country.
The Lebanese army and Hezbollah regularly pound hideouts for Daesh (ISIS) and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham – previously known as the Nusra Front – along the rugged outskirts surrounding the country's northeastern border, along the Syrian frontier, to keep them at bay.
