3 dead as Lebanese army raids home of alleged militant

A suspected militant killed himself and two family members by detonating a grenade during an army raid at his sister’s home in northern Lebanon on Saturday, a security source said.

Troops seeking to detain Mohamed Hamza raided the home in Deir Ammar, north of the city of Tripoli, in the early hours of Saturday morning, prompting an exchange of gunfire, the source said.

Hamza threw a first grenade at troops, but a second detonated while still in his hand, killing him along with his mother and a niece, according to the source.

A medical source said that three civilians and five soldiers had also been wounded during the raid.

Hamza was wanted in connection with militant activity in the Sunni-majority Bab el-Tebbaneh neighbourhood of Tripoli, a security source said.

Gunmen in the district often clash with others in the neighbouring Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen as well as with patrols of army forces.

The army launched a security plan in April 2014 in an effort to stabilise Tripoli, which has seen successive rounds of deadly fighting between the two neighbourhoods.