4 Lebanese soldiers killed in hunt for 'terrorist': army

The Lebanese army said on Monday that four of its troops were killed while attempting to arrest a suspected "terrorist" at his north Lebanon home.

The soldiers were trying to detain Khaled al-Tallawi, who heads a "militant cell" behind the August 21st murder of two police officers and the son of the mayor of Kaftoun village in the country's north, the army said.

The three men were killed by gunfire from a car they had stopped as it passed through the village, the National News Agency said at the time.

The vehicle was later found abandoned, containing a gun with a silencer, a small explosive device and electrical wire.

During the Monday operation, al-Tallawi opened fire and lobbed a hand grenade at the troops who raided his home in the Beddawi area near the northern port city of Tripoli late Sunday, the army said.

Three soldiers were killed on the spot while another was severely wounded and later succumbed to his injuries.

The army said al-Tallawi was later shot dead after soldiers chased him and affiliated militants in a hunt that lasted into the early hours of Monday morning.

Troops are still searching for other members of al-Tallawi's cell, the army said.

Lebanese forces have been pursuing suspects over the Kaftoun murders for weeks.

Police had already arrested a suspect in the Beddawi camp for Palestinian refugees near the northern port city of Tripoli, the day after the killings.