Troops Shoot Dead Man Who Failed to Stop at al-Madfoun Checkpoint
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A man called Charbel Rahme, who hails from the northern town of Bcharri, was killed on Sunday by troops’ gunfire when his vehicle failed to stop at an army checkpoint at al-Madfoun Bridge in the North, state-run National News Agency reported.
Rahme, 38, died immediately as a gunshot struck his head, NNA said.
His body was transported to the Batroun Hospital where it was examined by the forensic doctor and the military police arrived on the scene and started their investigations, the agency added.
It said Charbel is the brother of Lebanese army officer Major Nasr Rahme.
Meanwhile, Akhbar al-Yawm news agency said the army closed the Tripoli-Highway at al-Madfoun for around 15 minutes when a white Mercedes 190 failed to stop at the army checkpoint and prompted troops to open fire.
“We are awaiting the investigation results into the incident that led to the death of Charbel Rahme at the al-Madfoun checkpoint and we condemn what happened no matter what mistakes he might have committed,” said Bcharri MP Elie Kairouz, member of the Lebanese Forces bloc.
According to information obtained by OTV later on Sunday, "the shooting death of the young man in al-Madfoun happened after he refused to have his car searched and fled the checkpoint."
On Monday, state commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered the arrest of three army officers and 19 soldiers who were manning a checkpoint in the Akkar town of al-Kweikhat where Sunni clerics Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed and Sheikh Mohammed Morheb were killed by gunfire.
The two clerics were on their way to attend a rally organized by al-Mustaqbal MP Khaled Daher in the neighboring town of Halba.
In the wake of the shooting, the army said in a communique that it deeply regretted the incident and that a military committee will look into the case.
The news of the killing pushed several angry residents to the streets of Akkar villages as protestors cut off roads with burning tires in the northern province, and the road in Naameh and other roads in the Beirut areas of Verdun, Mazraa, Beshara al-Khoury and Qasqas.
The anti-Syria cleric’s death also caused armed clashes between supporters of the Mustaqbal Movement and Arab Movement party near the Beirut Arab University in Tariq al-Jedideh, leaving two dead.
27 May 2012, 18:27
11
WHAT??? NO CIVIL WAR FOR THIS GUY >>???????
Come on retards, light tires, and start bombing your neighbors !!
banana republic of lebanon
27 May 2012, 19:31
02
That's Wrong , shoot the Tires or fallow the driver and arrested him !!
27 May 2012, 19:50
00
typical, my comments never get published on here. lol (but this one will just to show me i'm a dork, but hooray! my comment got posted! thank you!)
27 May 2012, 21:01
43
Very insightful comment realist. Especially with the 'I am sorry' hahahhahahaha! Hilarious :D
27 May 2012, 20:07
02
I don't understand why the army is told to shoot and aim to kill when not directly threatened. Haven't they told them to shoot at the car to bring it to a halt. Like shooting at the tires or something like that.
I do support the army but not actions like that.
-The incident at mar mikhail few years ago
-The incident last week in Akkar
-This incident.
The army general should issue a comminque warning army personnel from aiming to kill unless directly threatened else soldiers will be put on trial. They are their to protect lebanon and the citizens regardless of their believes..period!!
27 May 2012, 20:46
33
What's up with the army!?! slowly but surely becoming like that of the syrian regime's
27 May 2012, 21:00
48
Oh give us a break. The guy didn't stop and didn't accept to have his vehicle inspected. To hell with him. The army has to stay strong. They are being tested and they are behaving right! Amen!
27 May 2012, 21:20
23
i wonder if you would say the same if it was a hezbi or an FPM member....
27 May 2012, 23:50
24
I would want to know why he would not stop ... Some of our army boys have no brains... They should shoot at the tires not the head!!!
28 May 2012, 13:28
00
And what did you do about samer hanna FT? you blamed him for being somewhere he shouldnt have to defend hizb
28 May 2012, 16:58
00
with the situation in Lebanon,,,stop or i,ll shoot you is the best way to halt all this chaos,,,,then why didnt he stop????
something fishy in here huh?
28 May 2012, 02:16
24
Because the Government leading it is like that of the Syrian regime.
28 May 2012, 10:33
11
@FleasThrower, did you apologize for wanting to shoot us in the head and to dissolve us in acid? What? No? Not yet? Then, STFU.
27 May 2012, 21:11
26
What's wrong with our lousy army. Seriously, disagreeing to have a vehicle searched means signing our own death sentence? I don't care if the victim is M8 or M14. Such practices should be severely punished. What an ackward country... Hopeless. The army should burst the tires with a chain made of nails, then only shoot the tires... Never at the person unless the driver tries to run them over with the car (it can become a weapon in itself). The soldier in charge should serve life in Roumieh...
27 May 2012, 21:40
23
I agree with most of you, why not have the tires slashed, they always had it ready to slide it under the tires. Plus they could have shot the tires instead. It is strange his brother is a major in the army, he should had more respect for them. Anyway, God bless his soul, his life was wasted for a simple mistake.
28 May 2012, 10:37
01
@lebcan, I dunno about you but I wasn't there, where you? Why so quick to condemn or back either party? Don't we owe it to ourselves to find out what really happened before we throw the army under the bus? What if there are rotten apples in the Army ranks who are paid to actively participate in starting a civil war? It doesn't make the entire Army criminals.
27 May 2012, 21:55
20
why you lebanese don't want to follow the law of the land
when police officer says stop, that means stop stop to anuone
that's why you deserve to die
follow the law
27 May 2012, 23:43
10
JC it s not Strange ,cause his brother is a major in the army.bikoun khayo el battal eyelo ma twa2if ala 7ajez .cause hayde el siyara fiya badlet jeish so YE7TERMO EL JOKE asde el badle
28 May 2012, 00:27
03
Sorry for him and his family.
...but why does half of the article all of a sudden talk of the akkar incident?
There is more questions to this case. What was found in his car ( if anything)?
Why didnt he want to be searched?
What is the orders the army troops have if a car refuses to stop?
Maybe nothing was wrong according to army standars, where somebody does not stop at a checkpoint, they are ordered to shoot.
So please Naharnet, more info!
28 May 2012, 01:51
01
Obviously an M-16 is not powerful enough. He almost escape. Next time they should use the heavy caliber guns they have mounted on APCs. Or maybe rockets.
Against a civilian, this would be more fair.
28 May 2012, 05:20
21
to the editors\
I guess you don't like to put any independant constructive comments in your site
always the same sick and demented commentary from the same people
28 May 2012, 05:25
03
Police and law enforcement brutality that ends up in a fatality have happened in many countries including western countries like Australia, Canada, US etc.
This type of response is typical for some expatriates who vilify Lebanon at every corner while idealizing western nations so they can hide some deep seated insecurity.
We are not perfect, but nations are never built by people sitting abroad judging every aspect of there home country.
28 May 2012, 06:02
33
There is no excuse to kill people unless someone committed murder and were tried under the law.
I hate to break it to you but what we are hearing are not the core values of what the army are taught: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage.
If this person disrespected the checkpoint soldiers, then he should have been punished but not killed.
28 May 2012, 10:51
21
Lethal force should be used only to prevent the loss of life of the innocent or the defender of life when his life is in jeopardy. Until we know all the facts, judging is just wrong.
28 May 2012, 10:51
21
@FleasThrower, did you apologize for wanting to shoot us in the head and to dissolve us in acid? What? No? Not yet? Then, STFU.
28 May 2012, 10:52
21
@FleasThrower, did you apologize for wanting to shoot us in the head and to dissolve us in acid? What? No? Not yet? Then, STFU.
28 May 2012, 13:38
01
FT i think i car thief would know better than to go through madfoun. I mean come on..when we normally drive our own cars, we do our best to avoid checkpoints, kif ta tkoun el siyyara masrou2a
28 May 2012, 08:13
16
i am personally coming from melbourne to beirut to hunt down flamethrower
28 May 2012, 10:53
21
You have to bring a North American Indian tracker with you in order to find FleasThrower because like his master he lives a thousand feet below the sewers of Dahyeh.
28 May 2012, 18:43
00
obviously i ain't gonna waste my trip to wonderful beirut looking for somebody who continuously promotes hezballahs schemes as being legitimate, but man words can not describe the aussie lebanese's hate for people like FT and the militias they support. its so clear to all of us here that all of lebanon's problems, and the reason for killing and political disputes, stems from the existence of such militias as hezballah and the support they receive from politicians like aoun. do u really think that the millions of lebanese residing in the western world are just going to sit in their countries much longer whilst hezballah continues to try and take over something that is not theirs? soon we will all be back in our motherland and promote a complete disregard for the stupidity of some politicians. live in peace amongst one another people! it seems to be doing just fine here
28 May 2012, 08:23
23
Not that I want to spark more idiotic responses from double standards commentators but I have a few comments of my own:
3- This guy's brother is a Major in the army, I am sure he knows better than to dart off from a checkpoint or refuse to stop. There must be more to the story than what OTV or other news agencies are saying ... I hope we will get to know ... it would be unfair to just think that this guy is a criminal when the story might be totally different! or not ... but at least we would know.
4- When will this graceful army start shooting at the Syrian army that is killing and shooting the Lebanese people??? since they are soooo capable at aiming and shooting I assume they are not short of bullets ... let them go to the border and do their job as army and protectors of our land.
28 May 2012, 10:44
20
@FleasThrower, did you apologize for wanting to shoot us in the head and to dissolve us in acid? What? No? Not yet? Then, STFU.
28 May 2012, 10:48
41
@mowated, couldn't disagree with you more on this last gem. Coca-Cola calling the shots??? C'mon man, you making sense up to that point.
28 May 2012, 10:54
23
@FleasThrower, did you apologize for wanting to shoot us in the head and to dissolve us in acid? What? No? Not yet? Then, STFU.
28 May 2012, 11:30
11
@bandoul. I got it for you in writing. I have arthritis, I cannot keep scrolling to skip your copy and paste comment. lol
28 May 2012, 11:31
00
You should try living abroad. There are a few countries in the world where the politicians are forced to serve the people. northern europe, singapore, australia, and new zealand.
28 May 2012, 12:37
01
For some reason Naharnet did not put the first two points that I mentioned (notice they started with 3&4). Granted that my comment now sounded out of context and blamed the army. The army is a red line for everyone, but the soldiers are human and prone to committing mistakes. I just asked for clarification & accountability. something your government refuses to do and you seem OK with that. And in order for you to understand me clearly and don't worry to figure out what am I emplying: U R AN IDIOT who like some soldiers shoot from the hip without figuring out what is going on.
28 May 2012, 12:40
00
Yes, when you apologize, maybe I'll stop. People like you must be held accountable.
28 May 2012, 12:41
00
Yes, when you apologize, maybe I'll stop. People like you must be held accountable.
28 May 2012, 13:35
03
mouwaten isnt wrong. the real power in the world now is money and resources. corporations have enough power and leverage over politicians in the world now that they can mold policies to their advantage.. no one really cares what happens to people as long as their only choices involve consumerism
28 May 2012, 17:50
00
its about time the lebaneese people learn how to respect the Army and Police and follow the Law regardless if you were Christian or Muslim or whatever you religion might have been.
and i hope our stupid leaders stop going on tv for publicity reasons and talk all kind of shit !!! we should all respect the army and follow the law !
28 May 2012, 18:32
00
So Stupid to comment that way i know the Madfoun check point very well and they have tools to destroy car tires few meters ahead of the checkpoint, they intended to kill him because he was a rahmeh. it was the same in the May 8 when the army tried to kill Fares Soueid in front of the LF office the officer back then shouted to his men kill him! and then when they found out that he was not in the car they turned around and fired on us to keep us away of the scene. The army is contaminated by the 14-8 disease. Some officers are pro 8 some others are pro 14 either way it is so silly. the army needs a homogenous government in order to not be confused
