Lebanese Army arrests suspects in Wadi Khaled over threat video

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army said on Friday that it arrested several individuals in Wadi Khaled, in the northern Akkar, on suspicion of making threats in a video shared on social media.

"Following the release of a video clip showing a group of armed citizens issuing threats, an army unit, accompanied by an Intelligence Directorate patrol, conducted searches in Wadi Khaled. They arrested the suspects A.B. and R.B. and seized weapons and ammunition," the Lebanese Army announced on its X account.

The army also said it arrested a Lebanese national, H.H., at a checkpoint in Wadi Khaled, alleging that he attempted to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Syria into Lebanon in a van. The seized items were turned over to authorities, and an investigation has been launched.

The video referenced by the Lebanese Army shows several armed individuals identifying themselves as members of the Ghannam tribe in Wadi Khaled. They declare their willingness to "support the Free Army," also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in Syria. "Anyone who crosses the border and attacks Hay'at, regardless of their sect, we are ready to confront them until death," a man says in the video.

Wadi Khaled is among Lebanon’s poorest areas and is home to Arab tribes, including the Attik, who make up about 80 percent of the population, and the Ghannam, who account for the remaining 20 percent.

In Syria, violence has escalated following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, after more than 13 years of civil war. A coalition of Islamist rebel groups, including Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, took control. Fighting has intensified in the Latakia and Tartous regions — strongholds of Syria’s Alawite minority, from which Assad hails. The violence worsened after Assad loyalists launched an attack on a security forces convoy in the coastal city of Jableh overnight from Thursday to Friday, authorities said.

Syrian forces sent reinforcements on Friday, launching security operations in Qardaha, the Assad clan's birthplace. The fighting has killed more than 220 people since Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).