Army Clashes with Bab al-Tabbaneh Gunmen, Raids Arms Depot in Tripoli

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

The army clashed with a number of gunmen on Wednesday evening as it carried out raids in the Tripoli neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, after arresting three people and raiding an arms and explosives depot during the day.

“Clashes erupted between the army and gunmen in Bab al-Tabbaneh amid raids in Khan al-Askar," OTV reported.

Several other TV networks said gunfire was heard in the area as al-Jadeed said “fighting broke out between the army and gunmen in Syria Street and behind al-Rashwani Mosque in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the army announced the arrest of a number of suspects in Tripoli linked to the various security incidents that have taken place in the northern city.

It said in a statement that it raided a weapons storehouse in the city, arresting its owner S.Z.

Army units confiscated various weapons, ammunition, and rockets at the storehouse, as well as material used to manufacture explosives as part of the ongoing security plan being implemented in the city.

In addition, the army had arrested a suspect, R.A., in the al-Baraniyeh area in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in the northern city.

He is held on charges of opening fire at an army patrol.

Troops also arrested A.A. and A.M. in Tripoli's al-Qobbeh neighborhood on charges of carrying out sectarian attacks, said the Army communique.

They also seized a number of ammunition at A.M.'s residence.

The army kicked off its security plan in Tripoli last week.

It is aimed at putting an end to the rounds of clashes between the rival impoverished neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

Tensions between the two districts go back decades but have been exacerbated by the war in Syria, where Alawite President Bashar Assad faces Sunni rebels seeking to topple him.

Successive rounds of violence between the neighborhoods have killed dozens of people and brought parts of the city to a standstill.

The implementation of the security plan was faced with protests and attacks on Tuesday where angry men tossed several hand grenades in al-Baraniyeh as residents shortly blocked the roads of al-Dabagha and wheat market with burning tires.

The grenade attack and the road closure were aimed at stopping the army from carrying out raids to arrest suspects involved in dozens of clashes that the city had witnessed in the past years.

M.T./Y.R.

Comments 6
Thumb -phoenix1 09 April 2014, 20:24

Bani Maarouf, for someone who changed his profile several times in so short a time, well chum, you're not doing that bad yourself either. Maybe FT adds a few dots here and there, but you my dear need to change not only your alias, but also your profile picture. Doesn't that say a thing or two of you?

Thumb cedre 10 April 2014, 00:56

france ? really ? tanx for telling me...

Thumb geha 10 April 2014, 07:25

Just for clarification: these clashes with the army are happening with those armed by hizbushaitan (once more) :)

I believe the sequence of events says it all about the terrorists in Lebanon :)

Thumb geha 10 April 2014, 07:28

Typical m8 behavior !

when they cannot comment because the events closed their stupid mouth, they open it for filthy acts.

we have all noticed the name stealing :)

Thumb -phoenix1 10 April 2014, 12:58

There's something in the business world called Added Value, or added benefit. In this case, our army is not only putting an end to anarchy in Lebanon, but also collecting weapons of all sorts which in turn it can put to good use, in the army. So this just proves that when we work, benefits always follow, and in many forms. Good work LAF, good work.

Missing cedars 10 April 2014, 14:06

I hope Harit Hrek is next, this way every inch in Lebanon is purified from arms.