Bab al-Tabbaneh Residents Demand Compensations for Losses

Bab al-Tabbaneh residents briefly blocked on Tuesday the international highway that links the northern city of Tripoli with Akkar to demand the government to compensate the damages caused by the recent incidents in the city.

Protesters blocked the road with trucks, cars and garbage containers demanding the Higher Relief Council to pay them their compensations, the National News Agency reported.

The news agency said that the residents warned of escalating their measures “if the situation was not resolved swiftly.”

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported that Prime Minister Najib Miqati vowed to compensate Bab al-Tabbaneh residents their losses.

Clashes in October between the rival districts of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, which were sparked by the assassination of Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in a powerful car bombing in the Beirut district of Ashrafiyeh on October 19, left 11 people dead and around 39 others wounded.

Media reports said that battles in the city in May and August killed at least 23 people in total and wounded dozens.

The two neighborhoods have been gripped by frequent fighting between pro- and anti-Assad supporters, reflecting a split between Lebanon's parties where the March 14-led opposition backs the revolt in Syria, while a ruling coalition led by Hizbullah supports the Damascus regime.