Tripoli’s An-Nour square reopened after 2-day-long clashes

An-Nour Square, as well as all main roads into it, were reopened on Sunday night but the tents set up in the square remained.      

The number of injured rose to 6 following an attempt by the LAF to enter Bab el-Tebbaneh.   

Earlier in the day gunshots and sniper fire could be heard every now and then, especially at the city’s northern entrance and around the Abu Ali River roundabout.            

Soldier Faysal Hussain Abdullah was killed by a sniper while he was inside a van at the Maaloula roundabout in Tripoli.         

Clashes erupted between residents of Bab el Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen at 2 a.m. on Sunday after an ENERGA grenade was fired in the Bakkar locality in al-Qibba, killing Issa Ali.                      

Soon after the incident, the two regions began exchanging gunfire and used ENERGA grenades and RPGs from 4 a.m. on Sunday until 7 a.m.                     

The machinegun fire reached the region of al-Zahiriya where Hamadeh al-Hassan was severely wounded at 7 a.m. and was immediately rushed to the hospital.                     

The administration of the Tripoli Islamic Hospital announced that 18-year-old Mahmoud Rachid al-Dahibi was killed after being found covered in blood along the road in the city’s northern entrance. Wassim al-Kurdi and Mahmoud Darwish who are severely injured are also being treated in this hospital.                         
Many neighborhoods between Jabal Mohsen and al-Tebbaneh are witnessing heightened sniper activity as LAF patrols intensified their deployment in order to get things back to normal.                    

Since the beginning of the clashes, the LAF responded heavily to the gunfire sources; however, this did not stop the clashes.                       

Clashes seemed to ease after 7 a.m. with only sporadic gunfire and explosions                      

Exclusive sources told LBCI that the Lebanese General Security handed over the arrested Shadi Mawlawi to the justice department; he will be released if sufficient evidence is not gathered against him.                

In this regard, Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Rifaat Eid told LBCI that the region of Jabal Mohsen will not respond to the shooting; should this occur, it would be coming from undisciplined partisans. “We are coordinating with the LAF to stop the clashes”, he said.             

MP Khaled Daher condemned the way Shadi Mawlawi was arrested, calling for his release. Daher said that the General Security’s approach resembles the approach of the Shabbiha and gangs. “If there is a charge against Shadi Mawlawi, the Lebanese Judiciary must deal with it, unless the Syrian regime ordered the General Security to arrest Shadi Mawlawi this way”.                 

Daher told LBCI that the sit-in held by Islamists at Al Nour Square is a civilized and peaceful sit-in; protestors are the ones who were subjected to gunfire after midnight.                              

Protestors had cut off most of the city’s roads using burning tires and cars, while roaming the streets in many regions demanding Mawlawi's immediate release.