REPORT: Heavy clashes move from Lebanon's north to southern city of Sidon

Heavy clashes erupted Tuesday between unknown gunmen and followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir in south Lebanon, security officials said, killing one person in the latest apparent outbreak of violence between Lebanese factions supporting opposing sides in the civil war in neighboring Syria.          

In the details, heavy gunfire was exchanged between the Imam of Bilal bin Rabbah mosque Sheikh Ahmad Assir’s supporters and members from the Al-Sous family, and the sounds of rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) were heard also in Sidon’s Abra region leaving one person killed and four others injured.                

This as Lebanese Armed Forces intensified deployment in the region to control the escalating situation and prevent the disposition of armed men; however, a number of gunmen reportedly deployed at the roundabout across Bahaa Eddine Hariri Mosque, and on Sidon's Cornish.      


Sheikh Ahmad Assir and military sources:   

The Media office of Sheikh Ahmad Assir told LBCI that clashes are ongoing between Assir's partisans and members from Hezbollah and the Resistance Serail but not with the military.      

This as Ahmad Hariri, an official at Assir’s media office said that armed men broke into former singer Fadel Shaker’s residence in Sidon. In return Hezbollah's al-Manar station denied claims stating that Assir's gunmen had taken over the party's apartments in the region of Abra.     

In this context, Sheikh Assir told LBCI that the deadline for the eviction of the Hezbollah apartments in the Abra region has been set for Monday.


Background:            

Tensions have been building in Sidon since Monday, when followers of al-Assir said a soldier verbally harassed one of them as he went to a local mosque to pray.                   

The clashes erupted Tuesday after several people, who may affiliated with Mahmoud al-Sous, attacked the car of Amjad al-Assir, the brother of the hardline cleric, throwing stones at his car and breaking its glass, the officials said. A statement from al-Assir's office said he was not driving it at the time.           

In turn, Sheikh Ahmad Assir denounced the aforementioned attack and said “they will not turn a blind eye to this incident”.      

The Abra region has long been an area of dispute between partisans of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and Hezbollah members. A shoot out occurred between the two groups on the 12th of November 2012 resulting in the death of 2 of Assir’s supporters identified as Ali Samhoun, and Lubnan al-Gharbi.               

A day earlier, clashes erupted in Al Taamir neighborhood in Ain El-Helwe Palestinian camp between Hezbollah members and Sheikh Al-Assir supporters, causing the death of 3 of Assir’s partisans.                              

Situation in Tripoli:

Citizens cut off the al-Kobbeh-Mejdlaya street in solidarity with Sheikh Ahmad Assir, reopened after a short period of time.

Also in Tripoli, a hand grenade was tossed in the Shaarani region.

Army Command:                   

Following the incident, the Lebanese Armed Forces-General Command issued a warning calling on all armed men in Sidon to withdraw from the streets, and mentioned that it will not allow a security spillover in the city and will respond to sources of gunfire.        


Positions:            

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati held contacts with Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and briefed him on the latest security situation in Sidon.       

Mikati called on Sidon’s citizens to act in a reasonable manner throughout this ‘critical’ situation.           

Lebanon has been on the edge for months. The country is deeply divided along sectarian lines, with Sunni Muslims largely supporting their brethren in Syria, who make up the majority of the rebellion against President Bashar Assad's regime, and many Shiites supporting Assad, whose regime is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam.


LBCI/AP

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