Beirut-Sana
The Lebanese army announced that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Mediterranean and seized a boat carrying 91 people in front of the town of Qalamoun in the north of the country, a day after the Lebanese security forces announced that they had thwarted a similar attempt yesterday.
The Directorate of Guidance in the Lebanese Army said in a statement today that a naval patrol chased a boat in the Mediterranean waters opposite the town of Qalamoun, with 91 people on board, including children and women, while trying to smuggle them illegally, after information was available to the Intelligence Directorate about the possibility of smuggling people through Sea.
The statement added that the aforementioned patrol stopped the boat, which almost sank due to bad weather, rescued everyone on board and took them to the shore, noting that the competent authorities under the supervision of the competent judiciary began investigating the accident.
Yesterday, the Lebanese Internal Security Forces thwarted an attempt to smuggle 82 people illegally to Europe via the Mediterranean through a raid in the town of Qalamoun.
