Soldier Killed in Accidental Shell Blast near Tripoli Port

An army soldier was accidentally killed on Tuesday while moving a shell at a shooting and training field near the port of the northern city of Tripoli.

The army said “a soldier was martyred when a military unit was dismantling an explosive device in Tripoli's Free Zone.”

“Military Police arrived on the blast scene and launched a probe into the incident,” the army added, without elaborating.

It later identified the soldier as Alaeddine al-Oueik, saying he hails from Tripoli's al-Fawwar area.

Earlier in the day, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported that “an army soldier was accidentally killed while moving a shell at a shooting field near Tripoli's port.”

Meanwhile, the Tripoli News Network Facebook page said “the Lebanese army had discovered four handmade bombs and a number of explosive devices in the Bab al-Ramel area during a raid at noon.”

“One of the bombs exploded as a military expert was dismantling it at 6:30 pm,” TNN added.

The incident resulted in the wounding of the expert and the death of his assistant, according to the network.

On August 6, Tripoli resident Assem al-Shaar was killed in a bomb explosion in the al-Khnaq area.

And on Thursday, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged a detainee and 10 fugitives with involvement in the bombing. The ten wanted men included notorious militants Osama Mansour and Shadi al-Mawlawi.

Y.R.