Army Strengthens Presence in Tripoli as Clashes Erupt between Jabal Mohsen, Bab al-Tabbaneh
Gunfire exchange took place in the northern city of Tripoli on Sunday evening amid heavy military deployment in the area, the state-run National News Agency reported.
"Gunfire was heard in the Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen,” the NNA elaborated, pointing out that armed men were present in the region.
The same source added that a bomb was hurled at the stream of the nearby Abu Ali river.
Later, the NNA said an Inerga-type grenade was hurled at Tripoli's Syria Street.
"The army has since strengthened its deployment and went on alert in the northern city.”
On October 11, an army soldier was wounded as sniper gunfire erupted in Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen and Syria Street in Tripoli.
Quoting the Arab Democratic Party, the main political and armed group in Jabal Mohsen, LBCI television had said "the unrest erupted after an Intelligence Bureau unit arrested a young man from Jabal Mohsen called Youssef Diab, which prompted residents to protest and fire shots in the air, the thing that provoked Bab al-Tabbaneh's residents and led to clashes."
"The arrest of the young man in Jabal Mohsen is an attempt to eliminate the Alawite sect and it will not go unnoticed and we demand that the detainee be handed over to the army," LBCI quoted the party's leader Rifaat Eid as saying.
Diab, along with five other suspects were charged on Monday in connection with the August bombings of two mosques in Tripoli.
The charges include the formation of an armed gang for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities and the bombing of al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques on August 23.
Among the seven suspects were three already detained men who are Youssef Diab, Anas Hamzi and Hussein Jaafar.
Source: Agence France Presse
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