A police patrol searching for wanted members of a pro-Hezbollah group came under fire in the southern city of Sidon Saturday, security sources said.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the police patrol in the Sidon neighborhood of Villat, the sources said, adding that there were no reports of casualties.
The police were conducting raids in the neighborhood in search of wanted members of the Resistance Brigades, a Hezbollah-affiliated group in the area, the sources said.
The raids were planned after a police checkpoint in Villat came under attack from stone-throwing members of the pro- Hezbollah group Friday, the sources said.
Two suspected of being involved in the attack on the checkpoint were arrested Friday night, the sources said. They were identified as Jamal Hammoud and Ali Hamdar, both Resistance Brigades members.
Ali Najm, a colleague of Hammoud and Hamdar who has several warrants out against him, was apprehended Saturday noon when police conducted a raid in the neighborhood, the sources said.
The attack on the police patrol came right after Najm’s arrest, the sources said.
Despite the assault, the police managed to arrest a further three suspects, they added.
