Death Toll from Tripoli Clashes Rises to Six as Fighting Intensifies
The death toll from the clashes in Tripoli rose to six on Monday and the fighting intensified in the evening despite a reported army plan to impose a ceasefire.
"The fighting frontiers in Tripoli are witnessing fierce clashes and the sounds of RPG explosions are echoing heavily in the city, while army units are continuing to respond to the sources of fire," state-run National News Agency reported.
Earlier, a security source told Agence France Presse that six people have been killed in four days of fighting.
"Three people, a woman and two men, were killed in heavy clashes overnight in which heavy artillery and rockets were used," the source told AFP.
The three were from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood, whose residents regularly clash with those in the adjacent district of Jabal Mohsen.
A fourth person wounded in fighting on Sunday died of their wounds on Monday.
In addition, two people from Jabal Mohsen were killed on Monday, including one shot by a sniper, the source said.
The source said at least 45 people were also wounded in the clashes which erupted on Friday when a Jabal Mohsen man was shot dead in nearby al-Qobbeh.
Meanwhile, Tripoli MP Mohammed Kabbara, who is a member of al-Mustaqbal bloc, announced that political contacts in the afternoon led to a security plan under which the army would start redeploying in the city starting 6:00 p.m. in a bid to impose a ceasefire.
“It will start in al-Qobbeh and then Jabal Mohsen and the deployment will be completed at 6:00 a.m. in Bab al-Tabbaneh and the rest of areas,” said Kabbara.
The lawmaker urged “all residents to deal positively with the measures that will be implemented by the army,” stressing that “security chaos in Tripoli only serves the enemies of the city.”
He called on residents to foil the plots of “anyone seeking to harm their city.”
For its part, LBCI television said “the army will deploy in al-Baqqar, al-Riva, al-Qobbeh and Jabal Mohsen and would complete its plan by deploying in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Syria Street should the plan's first phase succeed.”
For his part, al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Samir al-Jisr said “these clashes started when two men were shot – the first from the Assi family of Jabal Mohsen and the second from Deir Amar,” noting that “the first man died of his wounds and the second is recovering.”
“The ongoing equation since 2008 until today is turning Tripoli into a 'mail box' (for political messages),” Jisr lamented, accusing “some parties who are bothered by the expiry of the current government's mandate” of being behind the current round of violence.
Earlier on Monday, an army patrol came under fire in Syria street, which separates the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
According to LBCI, a soldier was wounded after gunmen opened fire at a military armored vehicle in Syria street.
The army responded to the sources of fire.
The incident came hours after the state-run National News Agency reported that cautious calm had prevailed in Tripoli despite intermittent gunfire.
According to the news agency, the key international road that connects Tripoli to Akkar remained closed.
The clashes prompted most of the schools in the city to close, and businesses near the two neighborhoods were also shuttered.
The sectarian fault line between the impoverished neighborhoods is decades old, but has been exacerbated by the war just across the border in Syria.
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