Syrian Army Destroys Bomb-Laden Cars ’Destined for Lebanon’ in Qalamoun

The Syrian army has bombed and destroyed explosive-rigged vehicles in Syria’s Qalamoun that were ‘destined for Lebanese territory’ as part of a plot aimed at waging simultaneous attacks on ‘civilian and military places’, Al-Manar reported on Wednesday.

A car carrying a license plate of the US state of New Jersey appears in the TV report, which was filmed in an unspecified location in the countryside of the Syrian Qalamoun border region and broadcast by Al-Manar television.

Moreover, the vehicle was shown next to other booby-trapped cars carrying Lebanese license plates as well as a Syrian firefighting vehicle.

The video then features a cave “in which the militants had stayed” and booklets carrying the slogans of the so-called “al-Nusra Front,” an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group,” as well as shells and boxes of ammunition.

Makeshift roads were carved out in order to send these cars towards the Lebanese border town of Brital, al-Manar said.

Al-Manar’s report further showed a destroyed personnel carrier which the narrator says was booby-trapped.

Quoting military sources, Al-Manar said the “major” plot had been “targeted against the Lebanese arena” and that “several vehicles were supposed to be used in simultaneous attacks.”

“The first car would target an army or a police checkpoint, clearing the way for the other vehicles to proceed until the final destination is reached,” Al-Manar added.

It said the alleged plot involved blowing up “Lebanese civilian and military places in a simultaneous manner.”

Additionally, it said. had the scheme succeeded, the results would have been “disastrous.”

This has not been the first time that the Syrian army has been successful in destroying workshops used to booby-trap cars destined for Lebanon, according to media reports.

Recently last week, the Syrian army shelled a vehicle rigging factory in the Lebanese border town of Tufail which overlaps Syria, destructing five bomb-laden cars at what was described as “the biggest” factory for booby-trapping vehicles in the border region.