27 now dead and 138 injured in clashes in Tripoli, Lebanon

Three people were killed and two injured in violent clashes that occurred on Saturday night between Sunni and Alawite fighters in Tripoli, the largest city in the north of Lebanon, a security source has reported.

The source noted that the total number of casualties over the past 11 days now totals 27 deaths and 138 injuries.

“Cautious quiet is hanging over the areas of tension, after a night that witnessed an exchange of sniper fire between militants from the Sunni-majority district of Bab Al-Tebbaneh and the Alawite-majority district of Jabal Mohsen,” the source said.

One civilian from Bab Al-Tebbaneh was injured during the clashes and later died. In addition, a captain in the Lebanese army was injured.

The source noted that the clashes in Bab Al-Tebbaneh, which erupted after midnight, also led to the death of two armed fighters, the injury of another fighter and the burning of a car, as well as caused damage to a number of shops.

The Lebanese army carried out raids in Jabal Mohsen in search of the snipers. They managed to confiscate weapons but made no arrests, according to the source.

The International Tebbaneh highway that links Tripoli to the Akkar governorate and the northern borders with Syria has now been reopened; however, the road that separates Jabal Mohsen and Bab Al-Tebbaneh is still closed. The army has set up barbed wires and roadblocks in all the roads linking the two areas.

The security source revealed that the army is regularly patrolling Tripoli and the roads adjacent to the areas of tension.

There have now been 19 rounds of clashes between the residents of Jabal Mohsen and Bab Al-Tebbaneh since 2008, resulting in 170 deaths and 1,284 injuries.

The clashes erupted against the backdrop of the rising political tensions resulting from the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri on 14 March 2005, when the Syrian regime was accused of killing Hariri. The clashes then escalated after the Syrian uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in 2011.