DAMASCUS, 5 July 2005 — Syrian security forces arrested two members of a militant group in a pre-dawn armed clash here yesterday, which left one officer dead and four other personnel injured, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted an Information Ministry official as saying.
“Security forces clashed with a terrorist group on Qassioun Mountain near Damascus around 1 a.m. this morning. Maj. Ahmed Hijazi was killed and four other security and police personnel were wounded in the clash,” SANA said, adding that the terror group included former bodyguards of toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The agency said that the detained militants included Ayed Saeed Al-Samady, a Jordanian, and the wife of his runaway brother Mohammed Ayed Saeed Al-Samady, nicknamed as Mohammed Islam.
“The two militants were arrested following several days of surveillance of the terror group, which included criminals wanted for armed robbery and other terror-related crimes,” SANA said, adding that security forces would continue operations against the gang.
Qassioun Mountain, which overlooks the Syrian capital, is a popular tourist destination that is usually jammed with motorists and pedestrians till early hours in the morning. “Security forces were very keen to avoid any casualties or injuries amongst civilians in the operation,” SANA quoted the same official as saying.
Yesterday’s operation came just one day after the government announced that its security forces had killed an Arab militant and arrested some 34 other members of another militant group as they were trying to illegally cross the border into neighboring Lebanon.
The slain militant, who was the leader of the terror group, was identified later as a Tunisian citizen. Two Syrian security officers were killed in the armed clash, which the government did not say when it happened.
The Samady brothers are wanted in Jordan for a series of petty crimes including armed robbery.
Last year, they were taken from prison to court but once there managed to escape. SANA said the clash took place after numerous days of searching by security forces, who were now on the trail of other members of the extremist group.
The new clash came a day after SANA reported two Syrian security personnel and an “Arab extremist” were killed in a firefight on the Lebanese border, which also saw an unspecified number of militants captured. That clash erupted when the “extremist” attempted to infiltrate Syria illegally from Lebanon along with other members of his group.
