Report: Injured al-Mawlawi, Mansour Using Civilians as Human Shields

Wanted terrorists Shadi al-Mawlawi and Osama Mansour have been injured in the latest battles with the Lebanese army in the northern city of Tripoli and are hiding among civilians, security officials said.

The officials, who were not identified, told Ad-Diyar newspaper on Monday that al-Mawlawi and Mansour are being guarded by some gunmen in a civilian neighborhood and that any military operation to capture them would inflict dozens of casualties.

The army is avoiding such a scenario because it is keen on the well-being of Tripoli residents, the sources said.

But they stressed that both militants have been militarily and organizationally disabled similar to Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, who went into hiding following deadly clashes between his supporters and the army near the southern city of Sidon in June last year.

Al-Mawlawi and Mansour have been charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group in order to stage terrorist acts, and holing up at a Tripoli mosque with the aim of preparing bombs and explosive devices to target Lebanese troops in the area.

Earlier this month, the militia led by the two fugitives clashed with the army in Tripoli and Akkar district. The gunbattles left dozens of fighters, soldiers and civilians dead and injured.

The clashes erupted after the army carried out a raid in the town of Assoun in the northern district of Dinniyeh during which it arrested Ahmed Miqati, who has admitted to plotting a ground offensive along with accomplices from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to control vast territory in northern Lebanon and establish an emirate there.

Al-Mawlawi announced via twitter on Monday that he will soon issue a statement to reveal who has “conspired against the Sunnis of Tripoli.”

“Wait for the curtain-raiser,” he said.

G.K.

H.K.