(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese security forces raided the largest and most notorious prison in Beirut after intercepting calls between inmates and members of the cell responsible for the recent fatal bombing in Tripoli.
Lebanese police reportedly entered and established a security perimeter around Block B of the prison at 7am, where many high-profile Islamist militant prisoners were held. Lebanese Army helicopters also monitored the scene from low altitudes above the complex.
The police conducted a nine-hour operation to transfer prisoners from Block B to Block D, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Interior.
“What was happening in Block B could not continue,” said Nouhad Machnouk, Minister of Interior. “Confronting terrorism will continue. We will continue with the security plan.”
Machnouk added that the Roumieh Prison was originally built to hold about 3,500 inmates, but it is now overflowed with 8,000 prisoners.
Block B holds 900 prisoners and 300 of them are labeled as “terrorists” by security forces.
In protest of the transfers, some prisoners burned their mattresses, which required the assistance of the Lebanese Army to extinguish fires and control the inmates.
“The situation is under control and there are no casualties and the plan being implemented complements the overall security plan for Lebanon,” a statement by the Internal Security Forces said.
“Roumieh Prison is part of that plan, especially after the discovery of ties between a number of prisoners and the terrorist blast in the Jabal Mohsen area.”
The prisoners were moved to “well-monitored cells” and were no longer given access to mobile phones and the Internet.
“Security forces have seized all phones,” Machnouk said, adding that the move served to “stop a process of communication that was facilitating terrorism.”
At least nine people were killed and more than 37 others were injured in the bomb attack in the northern city of Tripoli on January 10. The al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
Over the past months, Lebanon’s second largest city, Tripoli, has been rocked by turmoil due to the conflict between supporters and opponents of the government of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
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