"The car of the former deputy mayor of the Aarsal municipality, Ahmad Fliti, was attacked by a rocket launched by the Jabhat Fatah al Sham terrorist group [formerly known as the Nusra Front, banned in Russia]. The deceased was accompanied by Fayez Fliti. Both of them were authorized for the negotiations," the statement obtained by Sputnik said.
The army together with the Red Cross took the injured to the hospital, but Ahmad Fliti died of the injuries, the statement added.
According to the Lebanese media, Ahmad and Fayez Fliti were mediators in negotiations between the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement and militants in the mountainous regions. The terrorists attacked the car when it was moving toward the Jabhat Fatah al Sham's territories for the ceasefire negotiations.
The Hezbollah movement announced on Friday morning that it was launching a military operation against the Jabhat Fatah al Sham terrorist group on the Lebanese-Syrian border in the mountainous region of Aarsal.
Earlier in the day, a source in Hezbollah movement told Sputnik that the militants of the Nusra Front terrorist group in Aarsal began to surrender.
The hard-to-reach mountainous region of Aarsal is considered today the most tense place on the Lebanese-Syrian border. It has been used for arms smuggling and transit of new terrorist recruits to Syria. It also houses several camps for thousands of Syrian refugees.
