An Islamist militant with ties to the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front was killed in a shoot out with Lebanese security forces in the northern city of Tripoli, security sources said, Reuters reported on Friday.
The shootout occurred as the security forces were arresting another wanted man, Islamist cleric Sheikh Khaled Hublos, a Lebanese Internal Security Forces statement said.
The militant shot dead was identified as Osama Mansour. He was found in possession of an explosive belt, the statement said.
The Nusra Front, one of the most powerful insurgent groups in Syria, in January claimed responsibility for a double suicide attack that targeted a cafe in an Alawite district of the predominantly Sunni Muslim city of Tripoli.
Tripoli has been the scene of some of Lebanon’s worst spillover from the Syrian conflict. The army fought deadly battles with Islamist militants in and around Tripoli for several days last October.
