The Lebanese Army said Friday that they have arrested five Syrian nationals for possessing arms, four of whom entered the country illegally, The Daily Star reported.
The Army statement said that four of the suspects were apprehended in an area near Arsal in east Lebanon. They were travelling in a pick-up truck in the region when Lebanese soldiers stopped them, shortly after they had crossed the porous border.
The Army said they confiscated a pistol and a quantity of ammunitions, but gave no specific information other than the nationality of those apprehended.
In a similar incident, troops arrested a Syrian man in the coastal town of Damour, south of Beirut, as he drove a sedan car without papers, the statement said.
The Army confiscated a gun, a rifle and ammunition, in addition to a wireless communication device from the fifth suspect. All the suspects were then referred to the relevant authorities.
Security forces have been carrying out a security clampdown on suspected jihadists and would-be-suicide bombers following several attacks that rocked Lebanon in June. Last month's explosions came after a three-month lull in a series of car bomb and suicide attacks.