BEIRUT: A three-man armed auto theft gang was arrested Sunday after a shootout with security forces in the Bekaa Valley during which two of its members were wounded, a high-ranking security source told The Daily Star.
The men were apprehended after carjacking a BMW X6 around 8 a.m. in Manara, Beirut, while driving a BMW X5. The driver of the X6 contacted Beirut police to report the car, which was a rental, as stolen.
The police located the car using its GPS and followed the two cars to Qaa al-Rim in Bekaa Valley with members of the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces and army personnel.
Security forces were able to disable the car remotely. Not realizing the police’s involvement, the three men exited the cars and attempted to fix the vehicle. Security forces then located the men, who began shooting at the police and army personnel.
Two of the three men, Ahmad Deebo Amhaz and Bilal Ghazzaoui, were wounded, while the third member, Tareq Hijazi, was arrested as he attempted to escape. The head of the ISF Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi was following up on the operation.
The three men are reportedly some of the biggest car thieves in the country, with tens of arrest warrants against them, and have shot at police on several earlier occasions.
President Michel Sleiman praised the operation, which lasted three hours, after meeting with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel who gave him details of the chase and the arrest, Sleiman’s office said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
The men were apprehended after carjacking a BMW X6 around 8 a.m. in Manara, Beirut, while driving a BMW X5. The driver of the X6 contacted Beirut police to report the car, which was a rental, as stolen.
The police located the car using its GPS and followed the two cars to Qaa al-Rim in Bekaa Valley with members of the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces and army personnel.
Security forces were able to disable the car remotely. Not realizing the police’s involvement, the three men exited the cars and attempted to fix the vehicle. Security forces then located the men, who began shooting at the police and army personnel.
Two of the three men, Ahmad Deebo Amhaz and Bilal Ghazzaoui, were wounded, while the third member, Tareq Hijazi, was arrested as he attempted to escape. The head of the ISF Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi was following up on the operation.
The three men are reportedly some of the biggest car thieves in the country, with tens of arrest warrants against them, and have shot at police on several earlier occasions.
President Michel Sleiman praised the operation, which lasted three hours, after meeting with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel who gave him details of the chase and the arrest, Sleiman’s office said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
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