Lebanon: fighting between security forces and extremist Islamist groups in the north of the country

A member of the Lebanese security forces (photo illustration).

ANWAR AMRO / AFP

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2 min

Heavy fighting pitted Lebanese security forces against extremist Islamist groups in northern Lebanon on Saturday September 26, not far from the border with Syria.

The clashes have left the ranks of armed groups dead and injured.

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From our correspondent in Beirut

, 

The fighting erupted during a police raid on a village in northern Lebanon, as part of a vast search operation for members of Islamist cells suspected of planning attacks.

The suspects, about fifteen, put up strong resistance, using automatic weapons and grenades.

Security forces responded with the rocket launcher.

The explosions were heard across much of the north of the country.

Renewed activity of Islamist cells

Three elite commando regiments of the Lebanese army were sent as reinforcements to lend a hand to the rapid intervention units of the police already there.

These fights show the renewed activity of cells of Islamist persuasion, thanks to the chaos that reigns in Lebanon, hit by a

and

crisis

for months.

On September 14, four soldiers were killed during an army operation, still in northern Lebanon, at the home of a jihadist, Khaled el-Tellaoui, who had been shot the same day.

The same extremist was involved in the August 22 murder of three people, including two municipal police officers, in a northern village.

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