The FINANCIAL — Lebanese security officials say a leader of the militant Sunni Islamist movement Fatah al-Islam was killed in a shootout with security forces, BBC News reported on August 15, according to Ria Novosti.
Abd-al-Rahman Awad and his two associates were ambushed by security forces near the town of Chtaura in east Lebanon, while travelling in a car. In a shootout that followed, Awad and another militant, Abu Bakr Abdullah, were killed. The third man in the car managed to escape.
Awad is believed to lead the Fatah al-Islam since 2007, following a long battle with the government troops at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared near Tripoli.
He has been put on the national wanted list and sentenced to death in absentia for a series of terrorist attacks. In the past few years he was allegedly hiding in a refugee camp in the country's south.
Abu Bakr is thought to be one of Awad's closest aides, responsible for military training of the group's members.
The U.S. included Fatah al-Islam into its list of terrorist groups in 2007, following the organization's operation against the Lebanese army which continued for more than a month. Some 400 people were killed in the hostilities, including 168 servicemen.
