Two disfigured bodies, DNA tests say may be related to Assir’s family

The State Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Saqr Saqr declared on Monday that 9 of the detainees who were arrested following the Abra clashes were released, while 30 others remain under arrest for interrogations.                 

In information made available to LBCI, Judge Saqr noted that two bodies remained unidentified, one of which sustained heavy burns and the other was completely disfigured. The sources added that nobody has claimed the corpses yet, while DNA tests are underway in order to identify them, pointing out that they may be related to the family of Ahmad al-Assir.              

Fighting in Sidon city began Sunday (23 June) after troops arrested a follower of hardline Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir follower.              

The army says the cleric's supporters opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.Official reports said at least 17 soldiers were killed and 50 were wounded in the fighting while more than 20 of al-Assir's supporters died in the battle, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.                  

Al-Assir is a virulent critic of the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah group, which along with its allies dominates Lebanon's government. He supports rebels fighting to oust Syria's President Bashar Assad.                      

The 2 day fighting between troops and armed supporters of al-Assir have transformed the city, which had been largely spared the violence plaguing border areas near Syria, into a combat zone.