Lebanon arrests Takfiri preacher for acts of provocation
Security forces in Lebanon have arrested a fugitive extremist figure wanted for his role in fueling sectarian violence in the Arab country.
According to reports on Saturday, Ahmad al-Assir was detained while he was trying to leave the country for Egypt in disguise.
“Lebanese authorities arrested Ahmad al-Assir this morning at the airport. He had changed his appearance and was trying to leave the country,” AFP quoted a security source as saying.
A staunch supporter of the Daesh terrorist group, Assir had been on a wanted list since June 2013 after clashes between his Takfiri followers and the Lebanese army claimed the lives of 18 soldiers in the southern city of Sidon.
Following the deadly two-day clashes, Lebanese forces swarmed Assir’s headquarters, but he managed to get away along with several of his followers.
The fugitive extremist continued to encourage sectarian strife in the country by issuing audio statements while in hiding, calling on people to join the ranks of Takfiri terrorists in neighboring Syria.
In 2014, a Lebanese military judge urged the country’s prosecutors to hand down the death penalty to 54 Takfiris, including Assir and notorious extremist singer Fadel Shaker.
Assir and his Takfiri supporters “formed armed groups that attacked an institution of the state, the army, killed officers and soldiers, took explosive materials and light and heavy weapons and used them against the army,” the judge said.
Syria has been fighting against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists since early 2011. The conflict has reportedly killed an estimated 240,000 people so far, including nearly 12,000 children.
The violence in Syria has sporadically spilled over into Lebanese territory, where Takfiri terrorists have every now and then conducted operations against the army.
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