Weapons and ammunition seized during an army operation in the Bekaa on the nights of Jan. 21-22, 2023. (Photo provided by the Lebanese Army)
Three suspects were killed on Saturday night in clashes with the Lebanese Army in the Bekaa, the military body announced in a statement.
"An army patrol carried out a search at dawn in the locality of Kneiseh in the Bekaa. It was fired upon and returned fire, leaving three people dead, two Lebanese and one Syrian, and one suspect wounded," the army said in a statement published on its website.
It said that no soldiers were injured. Two cars, a rocket launcher and heavy weapons, as well as drugs, were seized.
According to our correspondent in the Bekaa, the clashes between the military and the suspects were "violent" and soldiers are still in pursuit of other gunmen.
The army regularly conducts raids in the Bekaa, where armed groups are rampant and the already weakened rule of law is seriously undermined by an unprecedented economic crisis in which Lebanon has been mired since 2019.
Additional reporting by Sarah Abdallah