Beirut 30 Jun (ANA) - Five suicide bombers have blown themselves up during a raid by Lebanese troops on refugee camps near the Syrian border, Lebanon's army said. Three soldiers were wounded by the blasts, while four others were hurt when an attacker threw a hand grenade, the army said. It happened during an operation to search for militants and weapons in an area near the town of Arsal. Arsal has often seen violence between troops and Sunni jihadist militants. In the raid on Friday, four militants blew themselves up in one refugee camp, and a fifth struck in another camp, the army said. The area is home to tens of thousands of refugees from the war in Syria, which has heightened sectarian tensions inside Lebanon since the conflict began in 2011.

A Sunni enclave surrounded by Shia villages, Arsal was the scene of an attack in 2014, when more than two dozen members of the Lebanese security forces were seized by militants from al-Qaeda and so-called Islamic State (IS) who had crossed the border from Syria. Sixteen have since been released and four killed by their captors. Security forces say members of IS and jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham have a strong presence in and around the town. The groups are active in hills overlooking Arsal, where they were pushed back in an offensive by Syrian government and allied Shia Hezbollah forces in mid-2015.(ANA)

FA/ANA/30 June 2017-------