Militias battle anew in Lebanon's Tripoli, army arrests 21 fighters
Reuters
2013-12-04
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STORY: Clashes resumed on Tuesday between Lebanese militias who back opposing sides of Syria's war and 21 fighters were arrested by the army as it pursued a six-month-long mandate to end bloodshed battering the city of Tripoli.
The conflict between the majority Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tabbaneh district and the adjacent Alawite neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen in Tripoli has killed over 100 people this year. But residents, fighters and a local politician told Reuters on Tuesday it was unlikely to end soon despite army efforts.
The two neighborhoods have been in on-off conflict since the 1980s but the 2-1/2-year-old civil war in neighboring Syria pitting Alawite President Bashar al-Assad against majority Sunni rebels has opened old wounds on both sides in Tripoli, and fighting has become more frequent and intense.
The latest clashes started after repeated attacks on Alawite targets over the last week in which several people were wounded.
STORY: Clashes resumed on Tuesday between Lebanese militias who back opposing sides of Syria's war and 21 fighters were arrested by the army as it pursued a six-month-long mandate to end bloodshed battering the city of Tripoli.
The conflict between the majority Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tabbaneh district and the adjacent Alawite neighborhood of Jebel Mohsen in Tripoli has killed over 100 people this year. But residents, fighters and a local politician told Reuters on Tuesday it was unlikely to end soon despite army efforts.
The two neighborhoods have been in on-off conflict since the 1980s but the 2-1/2-year-old civil war in neighboring Syria pitting Alawite President Bashar al-Assad against majority Sunni rebels has opened old wounds on both sides in Tripoli, and fighting has become more frequent and intense.
The latest clashes started after repeated attacks on Alawite targets over the last week in which several people were wounded.
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