REPORT: LAF units deploy in Tripolis Bab al Tabbaneh, residents...

3^min

The Lebanese army continued on Tuesday the combing and raid operations in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in search of outlaws that may have remained in the wake of deadly clashes that erupted over the weekend.

Streets and homes that sustained huge material damage were reportedly being cleaned and surveyed. Al-Ahram street in particular, where terrorists Chadi al-Mawlawi and Ousama Mansour were located is the most damaged with works ongoing to remove the rubble from the street and others that surround.

"The army's withdrawal from Bab al-Tabbaneh is out of the question throughout this phase," military sources told LBCI, noting that the fight against terrorism will not end unless all fugitives are arrested.

Later on, the Army Command- Orientation Directorate said military units continued to deploy in Tripoli's old markets and Bab al-Tabbaneh on Tuesday and conducted several raids in search of fugitive gunmen.

"33 persons suspected of belonging to terrorist groups were arrested during raids," the Army Command noted, saying investigations were launched with the detainees.

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

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.

To watch Maroun Nassif's report, please click on the VIDEO above