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The Associated Press
BEIRUT, Lebanon A Syrian leader of an
Islamic militant group blew himself up at a
border post with Lebanon after a gunbattle
with Syrian security forces Tuesday, the
Syrian government said. Two security forces
were wounded.
Omar Abdullah, the 28-year-old leader of the
Islamic militant group Tawhid and Jihad, was
trying to enter Lebanon at the Jdeidet
Yabous border post with fake documents, a
Syrian Interior Ministry statement said.
The statement said he opened fire on
security forces and tried to escape.
After a chase, Abdullah detonated an
explosive belt, killing himself and wounding
the two Syrian security officers.
Tawhid and Jihad, the Arabic for Monotheism
and Holy War, is a name often used by
militant groups sympathetic to _ and
sometimes linked with _ al-Qaida. Such a
group had not been known to be operating in
Syria.
It was not known if Abdullah was trying to
enter Lebanon to carry out an attack.
Sometimes militants wear explosives
intending to detonate them only if they are
caught.
The Interior Ministry statement said nine
fake identification documents were found on
the militant, who also used the name Omar
Hamra.
The crossing is about seven minutes' drive
from the Lebanese border point of Masnaa on
the highway linking Beirut with Syria's
capital, Damascus.
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