Lebanese security forces have discovered the body of a high-profile member of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the northeastern border town of Arsal.
An unnamed security source said Abu Bakr al-Raqqawi’s corpse was found in Wadi Aata district of the town, which lies about 124 kilometers northeast of the capital Beirut, on Sunday morning.
The source added that Raqqawi had been most likely killed by residents of Arsal. Some local media outlets, however, reported that militants from the rival Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, were behind the killing.
Raqqawi was purportedly behind the killing of a police officer, identified as First Sergeant Major Zaher Ezzedine, in Arsal last January.
On September 22, the Lebanese army detained a high-ranking Daesh militant commander, identified as Imad Yassine, in Taware neighborhood of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, located near the southwestern port city of Sidon, following fierce overnight clashes between Takfiri terrorists and members of the Palestinian Fatah movement there.
The Lebanese Defense Ministry announced in early August that government forces had arrested two top Daesh commanders, identified as Samih Breidi and Tariq Fleiti, following a brief exchange of gunfire in Arsal.
On April 28, the Lebanese army killed another senior Daesh commander, named as Nayef Sha’alan, in an operation in Arsal’s Wadi al-Hosn region.