REPORT: Gunmen withdraw from Lebanons Tripoli, military operation ends

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A military operation that was launched by the Lebanese Armed Forces in the northern city of Tripoli has ended following the withdrawal of gunmen but LAF units are still deployed in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Earlier, military units came under fire by a gunman near the Abdullah Bin Masoud mosque as soldiers combed and raided areas in Bab al-Tabbaneh. The army responded to the source of fire.

"The Abdullah Bin Masoud mosque in Bab al-Tabbaneh is now controlled by the army and it has been inspected by a top officer," sources told LBCI.

"Meanwhile, the army is working on detonating explosives and mines in the region," the sources added.

Also on Monday, the LAF arrested three fugitives who opened fire at the army Sunday overnight as they tried to leave the city along with civilians.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said in remarks published Monday that the Tripoli gunmen numbered no more than 200 and were from both Lebanon and Syria.

Lebanese soldiers battled Islamist gunmen across northern Lebanon for a third day on Sunday in the worst fighting linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria since militants briefly seized a border town in the summer.

The Syrian war has triggered Lebanon's worst instability since its own 1975-90 civil war. There have been several rounds of fighting in Tripoli since the Syria war erupted in 2011.

Political conflict has left Lebanon without a president since May when President Michel Sleiman's term expired.

Fighting in Syria has divided its smaller neighbor along sectarian lines, with Sunnis supporting Syrian rebels and Shiites backing President Bashar Assad. Hardline Islamist groups have won a degree of support among Lebanese Sunnis.

Politicians across Lebanon's deeply divided political field have condemned the violence in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city and a historic base for Sunni Islamist groups.

Army statement

The Army Command- Orientation Directorate denied that a settlement was reached with groups of militants in Tripoli, noting that relevant claims were issued by politicians who were affected by the "successful, decisive and swift operation" launched by the army to eradicate those groups.

In a statement, the Army Command said LAF units are proceeding with their military operation in Tripoli and the surrounding areas, adding that they managed to enter the last stronghold of armed terrorist groups in Bab al-Tabbaneh.

"LAF units arrested a number of militants while others fled after they planted explosives and IEDs in residential neighborhoods, more specifically near the Abdullah Bin Masoud mosque where the army is working on dismantling them," the statement said.

It added that weapons cashes and a plant manufacturing explosives were also found.

LBCI/REUTERS

For more details, watch Edmond Sassine's report in the video above