Army Patrol Comes under Attack in Tripoli, 8 Soldiers Wounded

Eight soldiers were injured at dawn Tuesday when their patrol came under an armed attack in the northern city of Tripoli, the military announced.

It said in a communique that soldiers were carrying out raids to arrest the assailants.

The gunmen opened heavy gunfire and attacked the military patrol with rockets in the area of al-Tabbaneh at 1:30 am, prompting the army to retaliate, said the communique.

Eight soldiers, including an officer, were wounded in the assault, it added.

Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) identified the head of the network that attacked the army as Khaled al-Naaman.

He was injured when the soldiers responded to the sources of fire and was taken to the area of the Bazaar, it said.

The army and security forces implemented a security plan in Tripoli last month after several rounds of fighting left scores of people, including soldiers, dead and injured.

The gunbattles in the two impoverished neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen are linked to the civil war in Syria.

Bab al-Tabbaneh's residents are Sunni and back the rebels in the neighboring country but Jabal Mohsen is mostly inhabited by Alawites, the sect of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The army and security forces have arrested dozens of gunmen and referred them to the military court.

G.K.

H.K.