Tight security dragnet around Lebanese border town

The Lebanese army has drawn a tight security dragnet around the border town of Arsal, which witnessed armed clashes Friday with two soldiers killed. The army has sent armored vehicles to the northeastern Bekaa valley town, and arrested Saturday several residents either for possessing illegal arms or for failing to stop at several checkpoints set up by the military at the entrances of the town. Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn reiterated Saturday that it was unacceptable to attack the military, a day after an army communique said a patrol was ambushed by Arsal gunmen as it was hunting a man wanted for several terrorist acts. The clashes that ensued left an officer with the rank of captain, Pierre Bashaalani, and Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman dead, and several military personnel wounded, it added. Zahraman's relatives blocked for a short period on Saturday al- Sheikh Mohammed and Halba roads in the northern district of Akkar with burning tires to protest the failure to hand over several of the gunmen involved in the ambush. Bashaalani's family also blocked al-Mreijat and Tal Amara-Riyaq road in the Bekaa.