1 dead, 10 hurt as clashes renew in Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen

A person was killed and at least 10 others were wounded on Wednesday as clashes renewed in Tripoli despite the presence of Interior Minister Marwan Charbel in the northern city, the scene of three days of deadly clashes which ended by a ceasefire on Tuesday. A security official speaking on condition of anonymity told Agence France Presse the shooting broke out after soldiers tried to remove barricades in the city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood. For its part, Radio Voice of Lebanon (93.3) reported that a soldier was wounded as a dispute between the army and young men in Bab al-Tabbaneh over the removal of barricades erupted into an armed clash. The security official said residents opened fire on the soldiers, one of whom was wounded, and the troops responded. The clashes then escalated with residents of Jabal Mohsen, which sits opposite Bab al-Tabbaneh, also opening fire. The radio station later reported that clashes had abated after a person was killed and more than 10 were wounded. It also said that a soldier was wounded as an army patrol came under gunfire from Jabal Mohsen. But Jabal Mohsen sources denied to al-Manar television any link to the incident, saying the army was the side that opened fire at Bab al-Tabbaneh gunmen. State-run National News Agency said gunfire targeted all the hotspots in Tripoli: Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen, al-Omari uphill, Starco, al-Mallouleh and al-Mankoubin. NNA said the army closed roads leading to Bab al-Tabbaneh from al-Beddawi, al-Qobbeh, al-Mallouleh and al-Ayrouniyeh, amid a severe traffic jam caused by the fleeing of residents. For its part, al-Jadeed television said clashes spread to the districts of al-Baqqar, the vegetable market, al-Zahriyeh, Starco and Baal al-Darawish. And as MTV reported that the army had pulled out of Bab al-Tabbaneh, sources denied to Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.3-100.5) the withdrawal of any soldier from any Tripoli area the army had deployed at since yesterday morning. Meanwhile, Radio Voice of Lebanon (93.3) said gunmen transporting a number of wounded people fired gunshots in al-Mitein Street in a bid to make their way through traffic. Army troops deployed Tuesday morning in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen and other sectors of Tripoli in a bid to calm the northern city after three days of sectarian fighting that killed nine people and wounded more than 90. Troops deployed in Syria Street, the frontline of fighting between the majority Sunni Muslim district of Bab al-Tabbaneh, and Jabal Mohsen, whose residents are mostly Alawite. Battles first erupted on Saturday between residents of the rival neighborhoods when General Security agents arrested Shadi al-Mawlawi, a Salafist, on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization. Mawlawi's supporters say he was targeted because of his help for Syrian refugees fleeing to Lebanon. Also on Tuesday, a separate incident shook the fragile truce when a fierce armed clash erupted between the families of al-Nashar, Hrash and al-Naanai in al-Rifaiyeh in central Tripoli, leaving three people wounded and raising tensions in the city. The army quickly managed to contain the clash, which involved the use of machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades.