BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army on Wednesday arrested a senior Al-Qaeda-linked militant described by security sources as a “mastermind of car bombs” that have targeted several Shiite areas in recent months.

Security sources said the arrest of Naim Abbas could help uncover terror cells in Lebanon, which have been ratcheting up attacks against the army and against the political and militant Shiite group Hezbollah.

The surge in violence in Lebanon is linked to the three-year conflict in neighboring Syria, with sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims rising on both sides of the border.

Security sources said Abbas played a role in four car bomb attacks targeting Shiite suburbs of southern Beirut and two more in the mostly Shiite town of Hermel, all Hezbollah strongholds.

Scores of civilians were killed in the attacks.

“He drove the suicide bombers to the southern suburbs. He is the mastermind of car bombs, he is as important as Majid Al-Majid,” another source said, referring to another top militant.

Majid bin Muhammad Al-Majid, seized by the army in December, was leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades named after a founder of Al-Qaeda and associate of the late Osama Bin Laden. They were formed around 2005 as a spinoff from Al-Qaeda in Iraq.