Hand Grenades Found at Bab al-Tabbaneh Mosque

A bag containing hand grenades was found Tuesday at a mosque in the northern city of Tripoli, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Army troops discovered a bag containing several unarmed hand grenades at the al-Jihad Mosque in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh,” NNA said.

Meanwhile, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said the finding coincided with strict security measures by the army in Tripoli.

“The army erected random checkpoints and staged armored patrols against the backdrop of the death of the father of the fugitive Shadi al-Mawlawi,” the radio station said.

Islamist militant Mawlawi disappeared from Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh following the October 2014 fierce gunbattles between his followers and the army.

In early 2015, Mawlawi claimed that he left the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh for an unknown destination.

Media reports said Mawlawi fled the camp disguised in women clothes and using fake identification papers, the same way he entered it in November 2014.

Y.R.