Six Wounded as Bab al-Tabbaneh Gunmen Intercept Van Carrying Jabal Mohsen Residents

At least six Jabal Mohsen residents were wounded when a van carrying 14 passengers came under gunfire at al-Mallouleh intersection in Tripoli on Saturday, state-run National News Agency reported.

“The army transported the wounded to the al-Saydeh Hospital in Zgharta for treatment,” NNA said.

LBCI television identified the men as Ghawi Hasan, Ali Rabih al-Haithi, Ali Dib, Ali al-Mazloum, Hassan Youssef and Saeed Issa.

"The gunmen opened fire at the bus and then beat some of the workers traveling in it. All nine Alawites had either gunshot or beating wounds and were taken to hospital for treatment," a security official told Agence France Presse.

"The bus they were on stopped at the entry of Bab al-Tabbaneh. That's when the gunmen attacked," the official added.

A doctor who treated the men said none had been injured critically.

Three more Alawites suffered knife wounds on Saturday after they were attacked by unknown men in Tripoli's central al-Tal Square.

Another man, who works for the city municipality, was also attacked by a knife-wielding assailant in a separate incident.

Earlier on Saturday, Arab Democratic Party spokesman Abdul Latif Saleh told al-Jadeed television that “14 workers from Jabal Mohsen were kidnapped and shot in Bab al-Tabbaneh as they were returning in a bus from their workplaces.”

He later reassured that all the passengers were evacuated from Bab al-Tabbaneh and were receiving treatment at al-Saydeh Hospital.

“Our neighborhood is besieged and the gang of the criminal (former Internal Security Forces chief) Ashraf Rifi is behind the shooting,” Saleh added.

“This is a crime against the entire Lebanese republic … where is Mufti (of Tripoli and the North) Malek al-Shaar who is calling for coexistence, where are Tripoli's MPs and the president of the republic?” Saleh said.

“They're saying that their problem is with the Arab Democratic Party, but it is clear that their problem is with the entire (Alawite) sect,” the spokesman added, wondering “why doesn't the army enter Bab al-Tabbaneh.”

Saleh urged Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji to bring the culprits to justice, warning that “there is extreme anger among the residents in Jabal Mohsen.”

Meanwhile, Jabal Mohsen residents blocked al-Shamal road that separates Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in protest at “the recurrent attacks on the neighborhood's residents,” al-Jadded said.

The army also closed the road to avoid any escalation, the TV network added.

On Wednesday, sporadic sniper gunfire returned to Tripoli and tensions surged after gunmen shot and wounded four Jabal Mohsen residents in the city despite an army security plan that had managed to end seven days of clashes on Monday.

The army had deployed on Sunday in Jabal Mohsen as part of a security plan to put an end to seven days of deadly clashes in the northern city. On Monday, three troops were wounded as the army deployed in Bab al-Tabbaneh.

At least 14 people were killed and more than 80 wounded in a week of clashes between the two rival neighborhoods. The fighting broke out on October 21 as celebratory gunfire erupted in Jabal Mohsen over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s appearance on al-Mayadeen television for an interview.

The neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen have been for years witnessing deadly gunbattles, but skirmishes began to flare with increasing intensity after the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.

Intermittent clashes and sniper activity continued on Thursday between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, leaving one person dead and several others were wounded, including soldiers.

Long-running tensions between the rival districts were stoked further after the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau summoned ex-MP Ali Eid – leader of the Arab Democratic Party, Jabal Mohsen's main political and armed force – for interrogation in the case of the deadly twin bombings that hit two Sunni mosques in the city in August.

Eid's driver Ahmed Mohammed Ali is being held by the Intelligence Bureau on charges of smuggling to Syria Ahmed Merhi, one of the main suspects in the bombings against al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques in Tripoli on August 23.

Merhi is reportedly the driver of the second explosive-laden vehicle that blew up near al-Taqwa mosque.

On October 14, seven people involved in the August bombings were charged, including three in custody. The majority are from Jabal Mohsen.

Forty-five people were killed and over 800 wounded in the twin bombings.

The Arab Democratic Party has denied any involvement in the attacks and stressed that the suspects are not members of the party while slamming media leaks attributed to the Intelligence Bureau.

On Thursday, the Islamic Alawite Council noted that “it is unjust to accuse the entire Alawite sect" of the bombings, noting that "this cannot be accepted by any Muslim."

And in remarks published Thursday in As Safir newspaper, Arab Democratic Party top official Rifaat Eid, Ali's son, warned that “the ISF Intelligence Bureau crossed red lines when it summoned my father and he will definitely not comply with the request.”

He declared that the accusations against his father are not based on any facts and that they are part of a Saudi Arabian agenda to settle scores with Syria.