Lebanese tanks were out on the streets of Tripoli yesterday after nine people including a boy were killed in sectarian fighting that raged through the night in the northern port city.
Militants from the rival Sunni Muslim and Alawite communities battled with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons in the latest bout of violence to rock the Mediterranean city.
“The army is working for real calm in the north,” an army official said, but added: “Security requires political agreement.”
Lebanon has been hit by sporadic outbreaks of violence despite a power-sharing deal between rival political factions in May that led to the election of Michel Suleiman as president and the creation of a unity Cabinet.
The latest unrest came after the new Cabinet hit snags in deliberations aimed at drawing up a policy agenda ahead of a parliamentary vote of confidence that would enable the government to be officially installed.
The army was on high alert, with tanks and armored vehicles patrolling the streets to keep the peace between fighters in the mainly Sunni Bab al-Tebbaneh district and the neighboring and largely Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen.
Among the dead were a 10-year-old boy and two women, while 50 people were injured in the fighting that first erupted early on Friday, the security official said.
Intense fighting raged through the night despite a ceasefire that went into effect at 3pm on Friday, but by yesterday morning the situation was generally calm.
However, residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh were blocking a motorway to the border with Syria with rocks and tires in protest at the arrest of two fellow inhabitants over the fighting.
Shops in the area were closed and many families who evacuated their homes near the main battle zone were taking refuge in schools.
“The army has sent reinforcements to the battle zones to secure the ceasefire and the army command has promised us to firmly respond to any violation of the ceasefire,” Sunni member of parliament Mohammed Abdel Latif Kabbara of the parliamentary ruling majority said.
Interior Minister Ziad Barud and the head of the internal security forces Ashraf Rifi headed to Tripoli late on Friday to see the situation for themselves and to assess measures to restore calm.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘NOT SUBORDINATE’: Only Taiwanese can decide the nation’s future, and people preserving their democratic way of life is not a provocation, President William Lai said Taiwan does not want China’s “one country, two systems,” and must uphold its freedom and democracy as well as resolve to defend itself, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, rejecting Beijing’s latest bid to bring the country under Chinese control. The president made the remarks while attending a commissioning ceremony for Taiwan’s first battalion of M1A2T Abrams tanks in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口). The tanks are made by General Dynamics, a major US defense contractor. China this week said it “absolutely will not” rule out using force over Taiwan, striking a much tougher tone than a series of articles in state media
RSS