Thousands flee during truce in restive North Lebanon
28 Oct 2014 5:49 AM IST
Thousands of civilians fled their homes on Sunday in a battered district of northern Lebanon’s Tripoli, taking advantage of an informal truce in fighting between the army and Islamist militants.
An AFP journalist in Tripoli reported the lull in fighting after three days of heavy clashes in Tripoli, the country’s second biggest city, even as the army vowed to crush the militants.
But Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch renewed a threat that it will execute one of 27 Lebanese soldiers it has
held hostage since August unless the military halts its operations in Tripoli.
The coastal city has seen repeated clashes between Sunni militants sympathetic to rebel fighters in neighbouring Syria and Alawites loyal to the Damascus regime.
The Sunnis have recently focussed their attacks on the army over its alleged support for Damascus ally Hezbollah.
The latest clashes erupted on Friday at the city’s historic market, which is a major tourist attraction.
On Sunday army mortar fire pounded the impoverished, outlying neighbourhood of Islamist bastion Bab al-Tebbaneh, where the gunmen were pushed back and cornered.
Five civilians have been killed in three days, among them a child and two adults on Sunday, said a security official. After pleas from residents and mediation by clerics, the army allowed thousands of civilians who had been caught in the crossfire for hours to flee Bab al-Tebbaneh.
An AFP journalist in Tripoli reported the lull in fighting after three days of heavy clashes in Tripoli, the country’s second biggest city, even as the army vowed to crush the militants.
But Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch renewed a threat that it will execute one of 27 Lebanese soldiers it has
held hostage since August unless the military halts its operations in Tripoli.
The coastal city has seen repeated clashes between Sunni militants sympathetic to rebel fighters in neighbouring Syria and Alawites loyal to the Damascus regime.
The Sunnis have recently focussed their attacks on the army over its alleged support for Damascus ally Hezbollah.
The latest clashes erupted on Friday at the city’s historic market, which is a major tourist attraction.
On Sunday army mortar fire pounded the impoverished, outlying neighbourhood of Islamist bastion Bab al-Tebbaneh, where the gunmen were pushed back and cornered.
Five civilians have been killed in three days, among them a child and two adults on Sunday, said a security official. After pleas from residents and mediation by clerics, the army allowed thousands of civilians who had been caught in the crossfire for hours to flee Bab al-Tebbaneh.
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