Lebanon detains ‘IS-linked Palestinian’ over poison plots

Lebanon’s security forces say they have detained a Palestinian refugee allegedly linked to the Islamic State group over two poisoning plots, one of Lebanese army water and another of food in a foreign country.

The refugee, born in 1991, admitted to links with an IS member in Syria “who tasked him with making explosives and concocting poison,” the General Security force said in a statement.

He prepared to “concoct a quantity of deadly poison along with someone living in a foreign country” for two planned poisonings.

The first was to “poison one of the water tanks from which the Lebanese army’s trucks fill up on water every day to take it to the army barracks.” The second was to “carry out a mass poisoning in a foreign country” through “poisoning food during a public holiday,” the statement said, without specifying the location.

The Palestinian has been referred to the relevant judicial authority, the security forces said, and the authorities are looking for other people involved.

— AFP