LA Arrests Key Terror Suspect behind Hermel Bombings

Local Editor

Lebanese Military Intelligence Friday arrested one of the most dangerous terror suspects accused of involvement in car bombings that targeted an Army post in the Bekaa Valley city of Hermel last year, a security source said.

Ahmad Abdullah al-Atrash, a resident of the northeastern town of Arsal, also known as the "Eagle of Arsal," was suspected of belonging to the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abdullah Azzam Brigades that claimed responsibility for a 2013 suicide bombing outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut.

The Army command confirmed Atrash's arrest in Arsal. Atrash is wanted for "carrying out terrorist attacks and is suspected of belonging to terrorist groups stationed on the outskirts of Arsal," an Army statement said. The terse statement did not give further details.

Atrash, 22, was suspected of involvement in a car bomb suicide attack on a gas station in Hermel that killed four people, including the bomber, and wounded 23 others in February 2014, the security source said.

He was also linked to another suicide car bombing that targeted an Army post in Hermel less than a month later - an attack that killed an Army officer and two soldiers and wounded 17 other people.

His brother, Sami al-Atrash, who was killed during a shootout with Lebanese troops last year, was also a member of the al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

The source said that the arrest came after sources close to the suspect tipped off security forces on Atrash's whereabouts.

The suspect was said to have joined the Abdullah Azzam Brigades roughly two years ago, after which he left his residence in Arsal and took up base on the town's outskirts. Residents in the area said that Atrash still frequented the town prior to his arrest.

Atrash, wanted by security forces on several arrest warrants, became a more religiously devout person following the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in March 2011 and worked to set up armed groups based on the outskirts of Arsal. He was suspected of involvement in transporting bomb-rigged vehicles from Syria to Lebanon.

Atrash's arrest is the latest in the Army's crackdown on terror cells. In the past two years, the Army and security forces have arrested key terror suspects blamed for a string of car bombings and suicide attacks that rocked Beirut's southern suburbs and other Lebanese areas.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team