Three dead, including fugitive drug trafficker 'Abu Salleh' in clashes with the army in Baalbeck

Three people were killed Wednesday in clashes between the Lebanese Army and suspected drug traffickers in the Sharawneh neighborhood of Baalbeck, including the infamous fugitive nicknamed "Abu Salleh," according to information from L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in the region. "Abu Salleh" had been on the run since previous clashes with the army, which killed a soldier, in 2022.

A previous report stated that one person was killed and three injured, including a child, but this was revised early this afternoon to include "Abu Salleh" and two other men. Residents called on the army to restore calm so they could evacuate the area.

Reports of repeat offenders firing on an army barracks in Hermel were denied by a source, as well as by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

'Precision strikes' by the Lebanese Army

The clashes began in the morning with raids by soldiers in the neighborhood, during which the Lebanese Air Force carried out "precision strikes" on the suspects using a drone. This is the second time since July 24 that reports have emerged of drone strikes in operations against traffickers, particularly the "Abu Salleh" network, in the Bekaa in recent weeks, a type of strike that the Lebanese Army has neither confirmed nor denied.

The trafficker reportedly earned the nickname "Abu Salleh" in reference to his method of selling various types of drugs by delivering them to his clients using a wicker basket (salleh in Arabic) lowered from the balcony of his apartment, when he was active in the Fanar area north of Beirut. He then settled in Sharawneh several years ago and has built an empire of drug production and trafficking, particularly active in the Bekaa and the capital. Residents of Baalbeck refer to him as "the king of cocaine and captagon" and consider him to be "more important than Nouh Zeaiter," another major drug trafficking figure in Lebanon.

The Bekaa plain, where weapons circulate widely while the state struggles to assert its authority, is often the scene of bloody clashes between rival clans, but also sometimes between the military and heavily armed gangs.