Lebanese Army Seizes Truck Loaded with Sarin Protective Masks

Army intelligence units found on Friday additional quantities of Sarin gas respiratory protective masks with full gear in the house of the arrested N.H. in kefir - Hasbayya.

Army intelligence units found on Friday additional quantities of Sarin gas respiratory protective masks with full gear in the house of the arrested N.H. in kefir - Hasbayya, Al-Manar website correspondent reported.

The new number of masks has reached more than 2,700.

Earlier on Thursday, a Lebanese army unit arrested a man driving pickup truck loaded with a large quantity of gas protective masks, the army said in a statement.

The truck was confiscated in the southern Lebanese town of kefir in Hasbaya province.

The statement noted that "the arrested man has been handed over to specialized authorities, along with the confiscated materials, and opened investigation under the supervision of the competent court to uncover the circumstances of the operation."

During investigation, the man confessed to his crime and claimed that he bought the masks from arms dealers in Lebanon to transfer them to conflict-hit Syria.

Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors of orchestrating the conflict by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.

Lebanon has pledged to disassociate itself from the Syria crisis, however, militant takfiris and mercenaries have spared no single opportunity to destabilize the Lebanese security by smuggling weapons and militants from and into Syria.