Hundreds of people were still homeless on Sunday after the latest bout of deadly fighting in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
“The army has barred residents from returning to some areas because there are unexploded grenades from the fighting, and the troops are defusing them one by one,” a security official told AFP.
Army reinforcements were sent to Tripoli on Saturday after militants from the rival Sunni and Alawi communities agreed to halt clashes that erupted early Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens more.
Fighters battled with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, causing massive damage to property and sending hundreds of people fleeing for cover from the neighboring districts of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
On Sunday, the army shot and wounded a suspect during a shootout in Bab al-Tabbaneh, the security official said, adding that the gunman had been wanted for opening fire on troops on Saturday and was now in their custody.
But he said the situation had been calm up throughout the day until then.
A source from the Future Movement said almost 2,200 families fled their homes in the mainly Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the mostly Alawi area of Jabal Mohsen.
Tripoli’s head of municipality, Mohammed Rashid Jamali, told AFP that 1,500 people were holed up in eight schools across the city waiting to return home.
“We expect half of those displaced by the fighting to return to their homes in the next few days, but for those whose homes have been destroyed or badly damaged it will take much longer,” Jamali said.
Fatima al-Kawwas and her four children also fled after her apartment was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, vowing not to return “until I am sure 100% that fighting will not resume.”
The security official stressed that calm had been restored in Tripoli, where recurring sectarian clashes have now killed a total of 23 people and wounded more than 100 since June.
“No gunfire or firing of rockets has been recorded since 5 p.m. on Saturday,” he said.
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 Sleiman as president and the creation of a unity cabinet.
The latest unrest came after the new cabinet hit snags in negotiations aimed at drawing up a policy agenda ahead of a parliamentary vote of confidence, which would enable the government to be officially installed.
But Lebanon is also witnessing a boom that it has not seen since before the 2006 July War broke out, paralyzing the tourist industry that holds Lebanon afloat for an entire summer. Large numbers of tourists also stayed out of the country in 2007, but began returning this year in record numbers.
The tourists, mostly Arabs from the Gulf States and returning Lebanese emigrants, have helped struggling hotels and resorts recuperate their losses, and shops in Beirut’s downtown have been seeing large numbers of customers after the Lebanese opposition’s sit in in the area, which had crippled its businesses, was lifted in late spring following the election of President Sleiman.
International artists have also been flocking to Lebanon to perform at concerts and festivals. The most recent is Mika, the British-born half-Lebanese singer, who gave a sold-out concert to tens of thousands of fans on Sunday night in Martyr’s Square, drawing people from all across the country to the event.
-AFP/NOW Staff