Lebanese Army says it thwarted attempt to smuggle weapons from Syria

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army said Thursday that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle weapons and military ammunition from Syria into Akkar, a region in northern Lebanon along the Syrian border.

In an official statement released on its website, the army said it had foiled the smuggling attempt in the border area of Akroum, Akkar, "as part of efforts to monitor and secure the Lebanese-Syrian border." "Other army units arrested two wanted individuals, identified by their initials as A.A. in Rouaime, Akkar, and M.R. in Arsal, Baalbeck, for involvement in smuggling," the statement added.

The army also said that another unit had raided the homes of wanted individuals in Wadi Khaled, Akkar, arresting three Lebanese nationals identified as K.A., M.A. and A.A. on charges including assaulting a military serviceman, opening fire and extortion. "Weapons, military ammunition and military equipment were seized in their possession," it added, noting that the "seized items were handed over to the relevant authorities, and investigations with the detainees were launched under the supervision of the competent judiciary."

In August, the Lebanese Army announced the arrest of a Syrian national near the villages of Aiha and Rashaya in the Bekaa, along the Lebanese-Syrian border, who was transporting "a quantity of rockets" that he had "attempted to clandestinely smuggle ... into Lebanese territory."

Combating smuggling along the roughly 330-kilometer border with Syria is one of the Lebanese Army's key missions. Its presence along the border has been reinforced since the fall of Bashar Assad's regime on Dec. 8, 2024, as part of efforts to address security challenges stemming from the porous border and combat smuggling and trafficking. Since then, the army and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) have regularly announced weapons seizures and the arrests of suspected smugglers.

The fall of the Assad regime and its replacement by an Islamist-led coalition hostile to Hezbollah have largely deprived the Iran-backed group of a key overland route for transporting weapons. The Lebanese state now cooperates with the new Syrian authorities.

Earlier this month, the Lebanese Army also seized about 200 kilograms of explosive materials near the Lebanese-Syrian border in the northern Bekaa. The materials had been hidden in bags loaded onto mules and smuggled into Lebanon. Efforts to combat smuggling are also taking place inside the country. On Oct. 5, the army seized several hundred kilograms of explosives belonging to Hezbollah in Dahr al-Baidar, inside a vehicle traveling from the Bekaa to Beirut.