Naharnet

Allouch Denies Mustaqbal Movement Linked to Arms Depot in Abi Samra

Al-Mustaqbal Movement official Mustafa Allouch denied on Saturday that the arms depot that exploded in Abi Samra neighborhood of Tripoli belonged to his party, according to the National News Agency.

“It's not unusual that some sides always try to accuse us of lies,” he said.

Allouch denied the alleged accusations by deputy head of the Arab Democratic Party Rifaat Eid.

“We urge the competent authorities to follow up the incident and bring those responsible to the Lebanese judiciary,” He added.

According to local newspapers published on Saturday, the owner of the farm that witnessed an explosion in its arms depot in the Abi Samra denied having knowledge of the existence of such a depot on his property.

As Safir newspaper reported that the security forces are awaiting an improvement in the health of the wounded in the blast in order to begin investigations with them.

Security sources did not rule out the possibility that the explosion may have occurred due to an error while the arms where being transported from the depot.

They did not rule out the possibility that the incident may be connected to the clashes between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, which erupted on Friday.

Three Syrians were killed in an accidental explosion at the munitions depot in Abi Samra on Friday, a security source told Agence France Presse.

The men, all security guards, lit a fire to warm themselves near containers that stored munitions, without being aware of the contents, prompting an explosion at the privately run facility.

“A major explosion ripped through an arms depot belonging to Ghaleb B. near Al-Jinan University in Tripoli,” state-run National News Agency reported earlier.

For its part, MTV said the blast occurred in “a building owned by Ghaleb Bqasmati.” It did not elaborate concerning his political affiliation.

“The sound of successive explosions was heard and the blast caused a major blaze in the site which soon spread to the university’s campus,” NNA said.

Voice of Lebanon Radio said several people were killed in the blast. It identified one of them as Daoud al-Samarji.

The radio station said three wounded people were rushed to nearby hospitals, noting that human remains were found in the location.

Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse


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