LEBANON: At least 2 dead in Sunni-Alawite clashes after anti-Assad protest in northern town of Tripoli

Record ID: 279355

  • Title: LEBANON: At least 2 dead in Sunni-Alawite clashes after anti-Assad protest in northern town of Tripoli
  • Date: 18th June 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS RUNNING INSIDE
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8Q5412H30P2WDL8X8UI40CE4M
  • Story Text: At least two people were killed in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday (June 17) when armed residents from rival sectarian factions clashed, a military source said, hours after a demonstration in support of Syrian protesters.
    The fighting with grenades and gunfire erupted between residents of the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood and the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood, whose inhabitants are Alawite, the sect to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
    The source said one of those killed was an off-duty soldier caught in the crossfire and the other person was a civilian.
    Four people were wounded but it was not clear from which side.
    The rival neighbourhoods often clash, but this incident comes during heightened tension over the popular unrest against Syria's Assad across the border.
    Lebanon's northern border has already seen an influx of Syrians escaping a military assault in the border village of Tel Kelakh last month.
    After Friday noon prayers, dozens of demonstrators took to Nour Square in Tripoli, chanting against Assad's crackdown on a three-month wave of popular protests calling for his downfall.
    The protesters called for Assad to stand down and carried banners supporting the city of Deraa and pictures of 13-year-old Syrian demonstrator, Hamza al-Khatib, who after his killing, became a symbol for the uprising.
    ''Listen Bashar, listen, the blood of the Muslim will not be sold, the Syrian people will not forget the blood of the martyrs. And your day will come soon, God willing,'' cried one protester.
    The numbers of Alawites are small in Lebanon but they gained some political clout when Syria dominated Lebanon through its 29-year military presence, which ended in 2005.
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