Lebanese Army Seeking to Reveal Fate of Lebanese Men Reportedly Killed in Tall Kalakh
The Lebanese Army is holding contacts with Syrian authorities to reveal the fate of around 25 men from northern Lebanon after reports emerged that they were killed as they tried to enter the Syrian town of Tall Kalakh, near the Lebanese border, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.
Several youth from al-Mankoubeen area in the northern city of Tripoli have erected tents near al-Nour mosque in protest and warned they would take escalatory measures if the Lebanese authorities brought no new information about their fate.
The protesters hinted they would block the international highway in al-Baddawi area on Monday.
Students from the Lebanese University's Faculty of Sciences also called for a strike after news broke out that one of the students was among the 25 men who allegedly died in Tall Kalakh.
But An Nahar received information that only four of them were killed and three were captured by Syrian regime forces.
As for the rest of them, they sought refuge with the rebel Free Syrian Army, the newspaper said.
Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Khaled al-Daher confirmed on Saturday that four of the Lebanese were killed but said two others were arrested. “The rest either escaped or are missing,” he added.
He described the youth, some of them only 18-year-olds, as “enthusiastic,” who wanted to head to Syria to help the rebels in their fight against President Bashar Assad's forces.
The Lebanese army has deployed heavily along the aptly named Syria Street dividing the districts of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli, whose traditional rivalry has sharpened over the uprising in Syria.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/63012 |