BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese authorities detained and interrogated a suspected Islamic State commander and referred his case to a special court, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported on Thursday.

Security forces arrested the man in Arsal, a town in northeastern Lebanon near the enclave Islamic State held until a Lebanese army offensive pushed them from it last week.

During interrogation the man confessed to participation in several attacks in Lebanon as well as recruitment, smuggling, kidnapping, arms procurement and financing Islamic State operations, NNA reported.

Also on Thursday, a military investigative judge charged 39 individuals of Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese nationalities with belonging to and promoting the ideology of Islamic State.

Islamic State has carried out several attacks in Lebanon in recent years, including a series of suicide bombings in the small town of al-Qaa in the Bekaa valley a year ago.