Army Deploys as Clash Erupts between Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen
An exchange of gunfire broke out on Friday between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
“Machineguns are being used in the clashes along Syria Street,” the frontline between the two districts, state-run National News Agency said.
“The sound of an explosion was heard in Baal al-Darawish but it was not immediately clear if the blast was that of a hand grenade or an Energa-type rifle-fired grenade,” NNA added.
MTV said “heavy gunfire” was heard in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, especially in Syria Street.
Meanwhile, Arab Democratic Party spokesman Abdul Latif Saleh told al-Jadeed: “Gunfire was opened at Jabal Mohsen from Bab al-Tabbaneh, but we will show restraint and leave things to the army.”
Al-Jadeed said a man who goes by the name Abu Hala was wounded in Bab al-Tabbaneh, adding that a hand grenade was hurled on Bab al-Tabbaneh's Starco Street.
Later on Friday, LBCI television said the army deployed in Baal al-Darawish in the wake of the clashes.
"Clashes between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh have largely abated while sniper activity is still ongoing," NNA said.
"Army troops have deployed in Baal al-Darawish and are trying to prohibit the presence of gunmen and contain the situation," it added.
On Thursday, an explosive device weighing 200 grams went off in el-Mina roundabout in Tripoli, causing no casualties.
Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) said “a passing car threw the bomb and the army cordoned off the area.”
“Intermittent sniper fire left one person dead and wounded another” on Thursday, according to the radio station.
Tripoli has witnessed recurrent clashes between the Sunni-majority neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the mainly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen.
The clashes have become more frequent and deadly since the beginning of the Syrian uprising, which pits the Sunni-led opposition against the regime of President Bashar Assad, who is Alawite.
Tripoli police chief Brig. Gen. Bassam al-Ayyoubi announced early August the launching of a crackdown on gunmen in the northern city.
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