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At least 15 Lebanese soldiers are now known to have died in continuing clashes between government troops and followers of a Sunni sheikh, who is opposed to the Shia movement Hezbollah and its involvement in the war in neighbouring Syria. The clashes which broke out on Sunday between the army and supporters of Ahmad al-Assir continued overnight, reported Al Jazeera’s Nour Samaha yesterday.
The fighting raged around Abra and the Ain el Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, she said.
Members of the Jund al Sham and Fatah al-Islam armed groups have joined the battle, she added, reporting from a village several kilometres away from Saida.
She said clashes had “intensified in both areas mentioned above, with heavy weaponry being used”.
“The sound of explosions and gunfire can be heard several kilometres outside Saida. The army is preventing anyone from leaving the Palestinian camps which are located in Saida,” she said.
“Roads are blocked entering into Saida from the south, preventing people from reaching Beirut. Checkpoints have been erected, some by the Amal movement [pro-Hezbollah party], to prevent people from going through Saida – they have been turning people back.”
She said masked gunmen had moved to Saida’s seaside road, and there were reports of further sniper attacks.
Assir’s supporters had surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, on the outskirts of Sidon, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the Sunni cleric had been stopped, a security source said.
The army were fired on, and they returned fire, the source added.
For hours afterwards, intense battles engulfed the district, closing down businesses and forcing residents to flee. — Aljazeera
Online Reporter