Residents Return to Scene of Fighting in Tripoli amid Shaky Ceasefire
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Taking advantage of a tenuous ceasefire, residents of Tripoli’s Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen returned to their neighborhoods Thursday to inspect the damage, after four days of sectarian fighting killed 10 people.
Earlier in the day renewed fighting killed one person and wounded two others, a security source had said.
But a ceasefire seemed to take hold by the early afternoon.
Hundreds of soldiers with tanks and military vehicles were deployed on the aptly named Syria Street -- which acts both as the dividing line between the two districts and as the frontline when fighting erupts.
Bab al-Tabbaneh is a majority Sunni district, whose residents are opposed to the Syrian regime, while Jabal Mohsen is mostly Alawite, an offshoot of Shiite Islam and the community of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"My family moved in with my sister, and I came to see what had been damaged," said Walid Zoabi, a 52-year-old man who works for an exchange bureau, as he went to inspect his home in Bab al-Tabbaneh.
"But I won't be moving back home until the army deploys fully, because I don't feel safe yet," said Zoabi. "I have left home 12 times since 2008 because of the clashes."
On the same street, Zeina al-Masri, 55, said she returned to collect clothes and important documents.
"I can't come back home in the current situation, so I will move in with my husband's family in Akkar," north of Tripoli, said the mother of five.
Buildings in the neighborhoods were riddled with bullets, shops were closed, electricity cables hung down between households, water poured out from damaged pipes and the army laid tires around unexploded munitions.
At least 10 people have been killed and 86 others wounded in four days of fighting and clashes raged overnight Wednesday despite the deployment of the army and the ceasefire.
Lebanon's Sunni communities largely oppose Assad, while the Alawites, who belong to the same minority as the Syrian leader, back his regime.
The port city of Tripoli and the capital Beirut have seen increasing violence since the Syrian conflict erupted 17 months ago. Nearly 25,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to a Syrian watchdog.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati, a native of Tripoli, on Wednesday raised fresh concern at "efforts to drag Lebanon more and more into the conflict in Syria when what is required is for leaders to cooperate ... to protect Lebanon from the danger."
The authorities have instructed the army and security forces "to bring the situation under control, to prohibit any armed presence and to arrest those implicated" in the violence, he said in a statement.
23 August 2012, 12:16
02
How difficult is it to impose the law on two small districts of Tripoli?
23 August 2012, 14:23
02
FT Ive read ur comments often and i think you are more reasonable than you sound. M14, like it or not, represent about half of the country. That being said, you have to accept others' views and vice versa. Blaming people of lack of patriotism through political alliances will not do us any good. They can go around in circles and say the same things about M8. I and many that prefer M14 (by default) understand your paranoia and views. It is fair to criticize where ciriticism is due, in respect to this government, no matter how u spin it, has done an atroucios job. Its non-representative and to be honest, lazy and seem incapable of supplying its people with basic government services. I understand HA, and why they are the way they are. I disagree with thier ways, but I respect them. What is not respectful is hoping your compatriots in your country fall, whoever they may be. That my friend, is not Lebanese or patriotic. Lets learn from our mistakes, have a healthy debate, say what you want.
23 August 2012, 19:54
00
Ramzi...you keep forgetting this creature known as BSThrower is NOT LEBANESE let alone have any clue to the meaning of patriotism. He believes as do his fellow comrades in rule by suppression based on regressive methods!
24 August 2012, 02:30
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@FT
though i am not a supporter of M14 myself, and i lean much more towards cpl as well as mikati,
i dont think that an attitude as "death to M14" is very, lets say positive and brings any solution.
constant bickering, constant tart throwing at each other is nonconstructive and will bring death not only to M14 but to the country itself.
23 August 2012, 18:41
01
FT... Spare us from such low comments. Nobody wants salafis, fatah al islam, nor fsa. We want the army to go in, dissarm all armed thugs which ever side they are on, and do its duty! But your beloved government is one controled by Bashar, and they do not dare to do so...
The article states that "the authorities" (whoever that is). , have instructed the army to bring the situation under control...what have they done so far? Did they capture someone? Did they dissarm someone? Did they arrest someone...?
