Al-Nusra: Executed Imprisoned Lebanese Soldier
KABUL: (Middle East Press) The al-Qaeda-associated al-Nusra Front says it has killed an imprisoned Lebanese soldier after Beirut said it had arrested three women with links to the Takfiri militants operating in neighboring Syria.
The horror group said following a statement posted on its Twitter page late on Friday that it had executed Ali Bazzal, and threatened to kill more Lebanese troops in its captivity if Lebanese authorities refuse to release the women.
The statement came after Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Beirut had arrested Saja al-Dulaimi — the ex-wife of ISIL chief Ibrahim al-Samarrai, aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — and their daughter as well as Ola Mithqal al-Oqaily, the wife of al-Nusra Front commander Anas Sharkas.
Machnouk told Lebanon’s MTV channel late on Wednesday that Dulaimi had married Baghdadi for three months six years ago, adding, “We conducted DNA tests on her and the daughter, which showed she was the mother of the girl, and that the girl is his (Baghdadi’s) daughter.”
Analysts say the Lebanese forces could use the women’s arrest as a lever to secure the release of over 20 army soldiers held captive by the Takfiri militants of the ISIL and al-Nusra Front since August.
The al-Nusra Front and the ISIL extremists overran the eastern Lebanese town of Arsal, situated about 124 kilometers (77 miles) northeast of Beirut, in August, capturing some 20 soldiers and police officers there. They later executed three of the hostages.
Over the past months, Lebanon has been suffering from terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants and random rocket attacks, which are viewed as a spillover of the clashes in Syria.
