Daesh claims responsibility for terrorist attack in Lebanon

Ayah Ezz

The Islamic State, aka Daesh, claimed responsibility on Friday morning for an attack that killed two police officers and two soldiers on patrol in patrol in Lebanon’s Tripoli last month, the group’s Al-Nabaa newspaper said.

Daesh said in its weekly newspaper that the “attacker is of the caliphate soldiers”. It provided no evidence to support its claim. The gunman, Abdul Rahman Mabsout, had reportedly already been in jail beforehand for fighting with the terrorist group in Syria.

BBC reported in 2014 that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, had appointed Abdul Salam al-Urdoni as leader of Daesh in Lebanon. On September 7, 2014, Daesh attacked a checkpoint and killed 8 Lebanese soldiers.

Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said in 014 that Daesh had some sleeper cells, who infiltrated through the Syrian border, in Akkar district.

Researcher Hisham El-Naggar, an expert on Islamist groups, said Daesh “is focusing on” all of the hotbeds influenced by Iran in the Arab region.

“Daesh wants to label itself as a Sunni challenger to Iranian expansion facing the pro-Iran Shiite presence in the Arab world,” El-Naggar told THE REFERENCE in an interview.

The researcher has stressed that Daesh serves Iran’s interests as it gives Tehran an excuse to justify its presence in the Arab region, claiming to repel the takfiri activities of the Islamic State.

“Especially, as Iran is facing a international demands to stop its activities in the Arab region.

“Simply, the equation is like this: when Iran finds it difficult to justify its presence in the Arab world, Daesh intensifies its Sunni activities. That urges Tehran to add more pressures on the media and political levels to justify its presence and realize its goals,” El-Naggar said.

For his part, Lebanese journalist Fadi Akoum told THE REFERENCE that Lebanon had known the Daesh takfirism through the terrorist group’s media instruments.

“Lebanon has known takfirism also through a number of clerics who promote extremist ideology and some politicians who were involved in the Syrian civil war from the very beginning,” Akoum said.

“The turmoil in Syria has helped the extremist ideology to spread to Lebanon in the wake of easy transportation between Syria and Lebanon. Daesh had no followers in Lebanon and the majority of extremists were supporters of al-Qaeda. After that there was Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” he said.

“The Daesh followers in Lebanon are Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian nationals. Some of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon house terrorists and wanted people, especially in Ain al-Hilweh Camp,” he said.

“The Daesh followers in Lebanon may be described as sleeper cells or lone wolves due to tough security measures taken by many countries,” he added.