1 Injured as Syrian Tanker Trucks Come under Fire in Tripoli
Gunmen opened fire at dawn Thursday on several Syrian tanker trucks in the northern city of Tripoli, injuring one person, the National News agency reported.
NNA said the gunmen attacked seven diesel tankers near the footbridge in the area of al-Tabbaneh, injuring Saleh Fares, who Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said was one of the trucks' drivers.
Despite the attack, the trucks continued their route, NNA said without specifying if they were heading to Syria.
But a Lebanese security official told Agence France Presse that dozens of gunmen opened fire on the Syrian trucks headed towards Syria and one of them hurled an explosive at them.
"One of the drivers was badly hurt," the official said.
"The gunmen then held up the truck drivers and prevented them from continuing their journey to the Syrian border until the army intervened and rescued the injured driver," the official said.
He added that the attackers believed the tankers were carrying fuel although they were in fact not.
Last month, several Syria-bound fuel tanker trucks were torched in northern Lebanon and the residents of northern border towns blocked the roads that lead to Syria to prevent them from crossing into the country.
The attacks and the protests came to prevent fuel supplies across the border.
The energy ministry has denied that the oil and diesel exported to Syria were from the refineries controlled by the ministry in northern and southern Lebanon.
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