Report: Gunmen in North Lebanon Fled Clashes during Truce
Gunmen, who engaged in deadly battles with the Lebanese army in the northern coastal city of Tripoli and in Akkar over the weekend, deserted their positions and fled the scene after they realized that they will not be able to stand firm against the army, As Safir newspaper reported on Thursday.
According to the daily, gunmen linked to fugitives Shadi al-Mwalawi and Ousama Mansour in Tripoli's al-Tabbaneh neighborhood decided to leave their position after Mawlawi posted a voice record accusing Muslim scholars of “abandoning them.”
Sources said that gunmen escaped the Sunni neighborhood during a humanitarian truce, which was made to evacuate civilians.
“The armed men moved through the narrow alleyways to al-Mallouleh and into the Western Saqi area, where they carried out their military training,” the sources added.
The Western Saqi area is close to Bab al-Tabbaneh and is the main passageway towards the coast.
The report said that Mawlawi and Mansour didn’t flee al-Tabbaneh neighborhood together, fearing that the army would detain them both.
The Lebanese army has been carrying out large-scale raids since the weekend in Tripoli and the region of Koura in search for suspects. Some of the gunmen were detained while others fled.
The battle between the Lebanese army and extremists in northern Lebanon was widely expected after members of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, launched several attacks over the past weeks in areas on the border with Syria.
Lebanese troops have been subjected to a wave of attacks over the past months.
Meanwhile, As Safir newspaper reported that gunmen-led by Islamist cleric Sheikh Khaled Hoblos fled after clashes with the army in the town of Bhannine in the Akkar district into Dhour Bhannine area, where they engaged in direct clashes with the army, and moved towards the Oyoun al-Samak area in al-Dinniyeh.
The newspaper said that the armed men could have fled Oyoun al-Samak into two directions, either Akkar or Dinniyeh.
Gunmen linked to Sheikh Hoblos, a previously unknown cleric, engaged in clashes with the army over the weekend in the town of Bhannine.
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