Lebanon army says 11 IS militants detained near Syria border

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s army says one of its special units conducted an operation near the border with Syria, capturing 11 members of the Islamic State group.

The army says the operation on Friday near the border town of Arsal targeted an IS center. It says the local IS commander in the town, Ahmad Youssef Amoun, was captured after being seriously wounded.

No troops were hurt. The statement says Amoun was behind several explosions that hit Lebanon recently, including the predominantly Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut, and took part in attacks against army positions in border areas.

IS has claimed responsibility for several explosions in Lebanon over the past two years that killed scores.

The extremists have been holding nine Lebanese soldiers and policemen since a raid on Arsal in August 2014