Gunmen in a car opened fire on an army post in northwestern Lebanon on Sunday, triggering a shootout in which two soldiers and one gunman were killed, the Lebanese military said.
Another gunman fled to an unknown location, according to an army statement.
The attack struck an army post in the Minyeh region, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Beirut. An army operation was underway to arrest the fugitive and uncover the circumstances of the attack, the military said.
The attack occurred as the army was elsewhere engaged in a heavy exchange of fire with a group of militants linked to Sunni extremists. The standoff in northeast Lebanon, close to the border with Syria, began after Lebanese forces raided a house where the group was holed up.
Videos circulating online from the remote Wadi Khaled area showed the use of rocket propelled grenades in the battle. The Lebanese army sealed off the area and had not commented on the operation.
A security official said the group includes militants linked to one of Lebanon's most wanted extremists, Khaled Tellawi, who was killed earlier this month during a raid in the country's north that also left four Lebanese soldiers dead.
Tellawi was blamed for an attack last month that killed three men in a predominantly Christian northern village. He was described as a member of an extremist group that had links to the Islamic State group. The security official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the operation.
Separately, the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon deployed a detachment of multinational forces to Beirut on Sunday to assist Lebanese authorities with efforts to deal with the aftermath of the Aug. 4 port explosion.
The catastrophic explosion, due to the detonation of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrates that had been stored for years in a port warehouse, decimated the country's main commercial facility and killed 193 people.
The deployment follows a request from the Lebanese military and authorization by the U.N. Security Council for the Mission to take “temporary and special measures” to provide support to Lebanon and its people in the aftermath of the blast.
UNIFIL peacekeepers deployed to the Lebanese capital with heavy machinery and other equipment, a statement said, adding that the main areas of support will be clearing of debris and construction work in order to facilitate the rapid resumption of operations in the Beirut harbor.
“It is important for a Mission like UNIFIL with over 10,000 troops to help the country that has hosted us for more than 42 years,” said UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col.
UNIFIL was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded in Lebanon under a U.N.-brokered cease-fire following a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah militants in 2006.
BERLIN (AP) — The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that the American leader's threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
In an unusual and very strong joint statement coming from major U.S. allies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland on Sunday said troops sent to Greenland for the Danish military training exercise “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”
Trump's Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.
“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland," the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."
Trump's move was also panned domestically.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.
The tariff announcement even drew blowback from Trump's populist allies in Europe.
Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”
The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that “no intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations." He added that "tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context.”
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.
“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's designs on Greenland.
Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.
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Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
