Weapons, ammunition, and tactical vests seized by the Lebanese Army after the arrest of suspects involved in deadly clashes related to drug trafficking near the Shatila refugee camp. (Credit: @LebarmyOfficial/X)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army arrested four men on Monday, three Lebanese and one Palestinian, suspected of being involved in an armed confrontation on June 25 in an incident linked to drug trafficking near the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Two people were killed in the clashes and five people wounded.
The army's Intelligence Directorate Patrol conducted raids in the southern Lebanese town of Zebdine, in Nabatieh district, where all four men were arrested, the army announced in a statement posted on its X account.
One of the Lebanese men, which the army said is "considered one of the most wanted drug traffickers," resisted arrest by opening fire on the patrol, which fired back, without causing any casualties, the army announced.
"A significant quantity of drugs, as well as weapons and war munitions, were seized. The confiscated items were handed over, and an investigation was opened under the supervision of the competent judicial authorities," the statement continued.
The fighting on June 25 came amid an increasingly tense atmosphere within the underworld of drug trafficking in the city. Gunfire exchanges involving B7 rockets and machine guns broke out between Lebanese and Palestinian traffickers, in a battle to expand their territory, a security source inside the camp told L’Orient-Le Jour.
The clashes largely occured in the western area of Ghobeiri neighborhood, on the edge of the camp, near the Camille Chamoun Sports City. In addition to the two gunmen killed, the violence also damaged shops, homes and several vehicles, the same security source added. It was part of an ongoing drug-related altercation that began in Shatila in May.
