Lebanese Army Smashes Terror Cell near Tripoli

Khaled Al-Talawi died after a force from the Military Intelligence Directorate closed in on an apartment where he had been hiding in Beddawi, northern Lebanon.

Sgt. Louay Melhem, and soldiers Charbel Jebili, Anthony Takla, and Nihad Mustafa were killed when the militant threw a hand grenade and fired at their patrol before fleeing the scene with three other people. Al-Talawi was later killed in the Zgharta district after he shot at soldiers. Units stopped another fugitive and chased two others, AFP reported.

Al-Talawi had been on the run from authorities after his car was used by armed men during the killing of three young guards in the town of Kaftoun on Aug. 21. The militants were part of a terrorist cell, led by Al-Talawi, linked to Daesh.

Lebanese Army Command revealed that the cell’s members “had received military training, collected weapons and ammunition, which were seized, and carried out several thefts to finance their activities.”

Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Joseph Aoun, briefed President Michel Aoun on the military operation in a phone call.