Mustaqbal: Army Must Implement New Duties in Tripoli 'Firmly and Fairly'

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned on Tuesday the eruption of clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in the northern city of Tripoli, saying that the army should assume its duties in containing the unrest.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The army should assume its new duties in a firm and just manner.”

It made its remarks in reference to the army being granted on Monday authority over all security forces in the city for a period of six months in an effort to put an end to the clashes.

The battles in Tripoli must be halted and the army must be allowed to exercise its duties, demanded the Mustaqbal bloc.

It also stressed the need to bring to justice the assailants behind that attack against Jabal Mohsen laborers and the perpetrators behind the bombing of al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in August.

“Tripoli should be transformed into an arms-free city, a step which we hope will be implemented gradually throughout Lebanon in order to eliminate the possession of illegitimate weapons in the country,” it declared.

Several Tripoli municipal workers from Jabal Mohsen were shot in their feet on Thursday in the area of al-Zahriyeh.

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 in August that killed 45 people.

Commenting on Hizbullah fighters' participation in the conflict in Syria alongside the country's regime, the Mustaqbal bloc lamented the loss of lives among the Lebanese fighters, appealing to their families “to raise their voice against their sons having to wage other country's wars.”

Hibzullah has acknowledged that it is involved in the fighting in Syria, saying that its fighters are protecting holy religious sites and combating takfiri groups.