Unrest in Tripoli as Miqati Seeks ICRC Help in Unveiling Fate of Fighters Ambushed in Homs

Prime Minister Najib Miqati asked the Red Cross on Monday to mediate with Syrian authorities to retrieve the bodies of Lebanese Islamist fighters killed on Friday in the province of Homs, as the situation remained tense in the northern city of Tripoli.

In a phone conversation with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Lebanon George Montani, Miqati also urged the international organization to gather information about the other surviving fighters in the Syrian city.

Twenty-two young men, including a Palestinian, were the victims of an ambush carried out by Syrian regime forces on Friday in Tall Kalakh. Media outlets reporting the news had conflicting reports about the number of people who died and those who survived the attack.

While the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a group of 30 rebels "were caught in an ambush by government troops in the area of Tall Sarin near the town of Tall Kalakh”, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said the ambush left 20 Lebanese men dead, adding that they hail from Akkar's Fnaideq and Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh and al-Mankoubin neighborhoods.

In a related development, unrest erupted in tense Bab al-Tabbaneh and the nearby areas on Monday evening.

"A grenade fell near Bab al-Tebbaneh's phone station in Tripoli and volleys of machinegun fire were heard," al-Jadeed television reported.

Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5) said sniper gunfire targeted a house in the al-Zahriyeh neighborhood.

"An RPG fell on Bab al-Tabbaneh and its sound echoed across the area," the radio station reported.

Meanwhile, LBCI television said gunfire was heard in Tripoli after a bomb was thrown near the Starco area.