Lebanese soldier Abdul Qader Akkoumi has announced his defection to the Islamic State jihadist group, according to an internet video circulated on Saturday.

“I announce my defection from this 'apostate, crusader army',” Akkoumi says in the video as he displays his military ID in front of the camera.

The so-called ministerial crisis cell on Saturday decided to take a number of “steps” that might eventually lead to the release of troops and police abducted by jihadist groups, amid reports that they are being held hostage in an “explosive-rigged” house on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal.

After a meeting at the Grand Serail, the cell said it “discussed the situations and the latest developments in the negotiations aimed at freeing the captive security personnel.”

Members of the Hizbullah-linked Resistance Brigades on Saturday “encricled” the police station in the southern border town of Shebaa in protest at the arrest of two residents, media reports said.

“Members of political parties and others belonging to the Resistance Brigades have encircled the Shebaa police station in protest at the interrogation of Mustafa and Thaer Ghayyad,” MTV reported.

The army detained on Saturday fugitive soldier Mustapha Seif in the Wadi Nahle area in the northern port city of Tripoli's al-Beddawi neighborhood.

Media reports said that an army unit raided the residence of Seif, who is also known as Abou Alaa, and arrested him.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry vehemently stressed on Saturday that his country stands by Lebanon in its war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Media reports said that Kerry lauded in a letter sent to Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil the endeavors undertaken by the Lebanese state in its war against terrorism.

The relatives of soldier Abdullah Ahmed Shehade, who reportedly defected the Lebanese army and joined the ranks of al-Nusra Front, appealed for him to return to his family and the military institution.

“The military institution is the sole guarantee for the country's security,” the family said in press conference on Saturday in from the town of Mashha in the northern district of Akkar.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel lashed out on Saturday at the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah, accusing them of having interests to impede the election of a new head of state.

“Whoever wants to run for the presidency has the right... If the candidate didn't have enough support at the parliament then he withdraws,” Gemayel said in an interview with An Nahar newspaper.

Calm prevailed on Saturday after several rockets from Syrian territories targeted overnight the al-Kabir River, which separates Syria and Lebanon, and nearby towns.

The shelling targeted the town of Omar al-Beykat, Qashlaq and the outskirts of Hekr Jenine in the northern Akkar district, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

International and regional countries are “gravely concerned” of attempts by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to create a safe passage to the sea in northern Lebanon.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Saturday, Arab and Western countries voiced concern, during security meetings held in various regional countries, on an ISIL scheme to take control of a swath of territory in Lebanon in order to reach the sea.

Speaker Nabih Berri expressed concern on Saturday over the ongoing attempts by terrorists to overrun towns in the Eastern Mountain Range and to cause chaos in the northern port city of Tripoli.

“If the Lebanese remain united, then they (terrorists) will not be able to achieve much,” Berri said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper.