6 Dead as Tripoli Clashes Resume over Another Attack on Jabal Mohsen Resident
Clashes in rival neighborhoods in the northern city of Tripoli resumed on Saturday, leaving six people dead and at least 22 others wounded, after a resident was shot in his feet in a renewal of targeted sectarian attacks.
Snipers in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts became active when Wassim al-Khatib, a Alawite, was shot in his feet in the area of al-Beddawi-al-Mankoubine, in the second such incident in three days.
After news broke about the attack, snipers from both districts took aim at each other and passers-by.
A 15-year-old boy, Omar al-Haswani, Abdul Rahman Merheb, and Ramzieh al-Zohbi were killed from sniper fire in the areas of al-Tabbaneh and al-Zahriyeh, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) later added that Ali Sobaihi and Palestinian Bilal Mohammed Saado were also killed.
The NNA identified the sixth victim as Palestinian Mohamed Ali Ahmed, noting that the man had fled from war-torn Syria only few days ago and took refuge in Lebanon.
The army general command said in a communique that an army officer and six other soldiers were injured when several army bases came under fire, one of them critically wounded.
Troops are on the ground, responding to sources of fire, it said.
It confirmed that soldiers evacuated al-Loqman school in Bab al-Tabbaneh and took students to safer areas.
Security forces also diverted traffic after sniper fire reached al-Mallouleh roundabout.
The Arab Democratic Party stressed in a released statement that it disassociates itself from the renewed security-related events taking place in Tripoli.
“What is happening is an uncoordinated popular reaction,” the party said.
Later in the evening, clashes continued to take place in the northern city, amid heavy troops deployment.
The NNA said a stun grenade was hurled in al-Nejmeh Square without causing any injuries.
MTV said remarked that troops deployed in all regions in Tripoli and have erected checkpoints to verify the identity cards of passersby.
It noted that an armed man was arrested near al-Maaloula bridge in the city.
NNA added that troops are patrolling in the area.
On Friday, Jabal Mohsen's Alawites held a sit-in over the recent attacks targeting members of the sect.
Several Tripoli municipal workers from Jabal Mohsen were shot in their feet on Thursday.
The attacks were claimed by the “Military Committee to Avenge the Victims of the Tripoli Bombings,” referring to deadly twin car bomb blasts that targeted Sunni mosques in Tripoli last August.
Sectarian clashes related to the Syrian civil war often flare in Tripoli, in particular between the two impoverished neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen that back opposite sides.
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