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Senior ISIL recruiter arrested in Lebanon’s Tripoli

File photo shows Lebanese soldiers patrolling the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. (AFP Photo)

A senior member of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group has been arrested in Lebanon while using a fake passport, security forces say.

"Ibrahim al-Barakat was arrested early on Sunday and is accused of being,”a recruiting agent for the ISIL militant group,” AFP quoted a security official as saying.

Barakat was apprehended as he was attempting to travel to Turkey via northern Lebanon while using falsified documents, the official added.

In addition to attacking Lebanese army units last year, the 40-year-old faces accusations of recruiting young men from Tripoli, the largest city in northern Lebanon, to fight with the militants in Syria and Iraq, the official announced.

On October 11, 2014, 11 Lebanese soldiers were killed after clashes broke out following the detention of a Lebanese man accused of recruiting fighters for militant groups in Syria.

Over the past months, Lebanon has witnessed an increase in militancy on the border with Syria, suffering from attacks by al-Qaeda-affiliated elements as well as ISIL since a crisis began there back in 2011.

In 2014, Lebanese troops stepped up security patrols in an effort to stabilize Tripoli, the second largest city in the country situated 85 kilometers (53 miles) north of the capital Beirut.

With members from several Western countries, the ISIL Takfiris control swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, where they have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

SRK/NT


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