Several terrorist detainees have confessed to a plot by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to stage a ground offensive and control several regions in northern Lebanon to announce the establishment of the Islamic State in Lebanon.

A high-ranking military source told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Tuesday that Imad Jomaa, Ahmed Miqati and several other detainees admitted that the ground offensive aimed at opening a corridor to the sea across northern Lebanon by connecting Arsal with Hermel, Dinniyeh, Akkar and ultimately the coastal city of Tripoli.

Mustaqbal bloc MP Robert Fadel announced on Friday that he will be donating his monthly salary as a lawmaker to combat poverty in the northern city of Tripoli, following the example of Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel who made a similar announcement on Thursday.

He said in a statement: “Poverty has started to act as a direct threat to civil peace.”

The army continued on Friday clamping down on offenders across Lebanon, detaining several suspects linked to terror acts, the military command said in a statement.

An army unit raided Syrian encampments in the Zgharta town of Meryata, arresting ten Syrians who entered the country illegally.

Ahmed Salim Miqati, a terror detainee, confessed during investigations that his group aimed at carrying out a wide-scale assault against the army, revealing that fugitive Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir is taking the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh, near the southern city of Sidon, as his refuge.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Friday, Miqati surprised investigators with spilling out the roles of his accomplices.

The army on Thursday arrested four people during raids in the town of al-Mhammara in the northern Akkar district, which has recently witnessed deadly clashes between troops and Islamist gunmen.

“Khaled Mohammed al-Shamali, Mahmoud Hussein Moussa, Ahmed Faraj al-Shamali and Faraj Mohammed al-Shamali were arrested in al-Mhammara for taking part in recent armed attacks against army troops,” the Army Command said in a communique.

The Australian Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a travel advice, warning its nationals against heading to several areas in the Lebanon that have witnessed unrest, and saying the situation could deteriorate “quickly.”

The advice, which was issued late on Wednesday, urged nationals not to head to the northern coastal city of Tripoli, areas in north Lebanon, Sir al-Dinniyeh and the northeastern border town of Arsal, citing security fears.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stressed on Thursday that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and al-Qaida don't exist in Lebanon, ruling out that jihadists established an Islamic "emirate" in northern Lebanon.

“Daesh and al-Qaida don't exist in Lebanon,” Rifi said in an interview published in the Saudi newspaper Okaz, holding Hizbullah responsible for the negative impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon after its involvement in the war raging in the neighboring country.

Unknown assailants opened fire at dawn at an army adjutant in the northeastern border town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The NNA reported that two unknown assailants riding a red motorcycle opened fire in the town's al-Jamarek Square at adjutant Ahmed Awdeh while he was heading to his work.

A member of the Arab Democratic Party was arrested by the army on Tuesday as he was trying to cross from the northern district of Akkar into neighboring Syria, state-run National News Agency reported.

“The army arrested at one of its checkpoints in Akkar a man identified as A. Kh. as he was trying to cross into Syria,” NNA said.

Lebanese officials have welcomed Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech amid hopes that it would lead to dialogue among the country's rival parties.

“The country needs positive rhetoric more than any other time and this is what I saw in Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's” speech, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat told As Safir daily published on Tuesday.