Army contains tensions in Tripoli after reports of Syrian being stabbed

Reports that a Syrian minor was stabbed by a Jabal Mohsen resident sparked tensions and gunfire in Tripoli overnight, prompting the army to deploy heavily, the National News Agency said.

The minor later turned out to be a “Bedouin,” NNA added.

“Gunfire was heard in the al-Qobbeh and Jabal Mohsen areas, which prompted army units to deploy heavily in the tension areas, especially the al-Baqqar and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods and Syria Street, which separates between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen,” the agency said, noting that the army managed to restore calm.

The Islamic Alawite Council meanwhile issued a statement stressing that “civil peace and security stability are a red line.”

“In compliance with a request from security agencies to hand over the young man Ahmad al-Bitar, we communicated with the young man who responded positively to the request, and we are fully confident that security agencies will perform their duties with full transparency to unveil the incident’s circumstances,” the Council said.

“Tripoli has always been a model for national cohesion and a firm bulwark in the face of strife. May God protect Lebanon and the army and may Tripoli remain safe and stable,” the Council added.

The tensions come amid sectarian bloodshed in neighboring Syria, where more than 1,000 have been killed in Syria’s coastal Alawite heartland.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has reported that 745 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia and Tartus provinces.

The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in "executions" carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters, accompanied by the "looting of homes and properties."

The fighting has also killed 125 members of the security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Observatory, taking the overall death toll to 1,018.