Al-Nusra Front Claims Defection of Lebanese Soldier

(Naharnet)- Al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front announced on Friday that a Lebanese soldier has defected and joined its ranks.

The terrorist group made the announcement on twitter after it published the photo of the alleged soldier.

TV and radio stations identified him as Mohammed Antar, who hails from the area of al-Zahriyeh in the northern city of Tripoli.

LBCI quoted a security source as saying that a search warrant has been issued against him. But that he was not on duty when he escaped.

The first time a Lebanese soldier defected to the Nusra Front in neighboring Syria was in July.

Corporal Atef Mohammed Saadeddine claimed in a video that his move came as a result of the injustice against Sunnis in Lebanon.

Islamists in the country claim that Sunnis are facing harassment by the army, which they accuse of working under the command of Hizbullah.

The Shiite party has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to help the regime of President Bashar Assad against the rebels fighting his troops.

Hizbullah members have engaged in bloody gunbattles with al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State group and other Syrian opposition fighters in Syria and the border region with Lebanon.

The jihadist groups took several Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage in August and executed three of them.