State Security member Tarek Mahmoud Zaidan and citizen Yahya Kamil Aladdin from the town of Yanta, in the Rashaya district, were killed in a mountainous area along the Syrian-Lebanese border, on the outskirts of Yanta, as a result of gunfire while they were inside a jeep in the Shakara area and Wadi Beka. The Lebanese Army units deployed in that area established a security cordon, and forensic and criminal investigation teams were summoned to the scene. The bodies were transported to Rashaya Government Hospital after the necessary procedures were completed. Security agencies were present, and an investigation into the circumstances of their deaths was initiated. Meanwhile, a number of locals gathered at Zaidan and Aladdin's home, where the Lebanese Army prevented them from entering the mountainous area to complete the procedures. Initial reports indicated that they were shot at midnight after losing contact with them, and a Lebanese Army patrol found them dead inside Zaidan's jeep in that area.
The General Directorate of State Security - Media, Guidance, and Public Relations Department issued the following statement: "Some media outlets reported this morning about the killing of two young men in the Mount Yanta area - Rashaya, near the Lebanese-Syrian border, one of whom was member Tarek Zaidan from the General Directorate of State Security. The Directorate would like to clarify that Tarek Zaidan was one of its members, before fleeing service on 24-10-2021, and is under trial for desertion by the competent judiciary, hence the clarification."
