3 Killed, 4 Wounded in Renewed Violence in Bekaa

     

Lebanon- Alnaharnet — Three people were killed and four others wounded in armed clashes that raged well into the early morning hours Tuesday in east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley between pro- and anti-government supporters.

News reports said rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine gunfire were used in the fighting that took place in the villages of Taalabaya and Saadnayel. It was not known what triggered the clashes which began shortly before midnight and raged well into the morning hours. Al Mustaqbal daily, however, said fighting erupted after a quarrel broke out between Hizbullah and AMAL fighters from one hand and Lebanese soldiers on the other.

It said Hizbullah and AMAL fighters opened fire on Taalabaya and Saadnayel, engaging the “population in the clashes in an attempt to cover up their fight with the army.” Among the victims was a school teacher identified as Samira Mahmoud Shukr who was killed by gunfire as she stood on the balcony of her apartment.

The other casualties included a man and his son whose car came under gunfire. The father was killed while his son sustained injuries. Another man was killed as he drove past Saadnayel and his two sons were wounded. News reports said fighting dwindled around 1:30 am after Lebanese army tanks ringed bases on the highlands of the villages of Tweiti and Qommal in the Bekaa and warned fighters they would silence the source of gunfire.

Fighting, however, broke out anew around 3:30am and stopped only two hours after the Lebanese army forced a cease-fire agreement, according to the Voice of Lebanon radio station. Schools, banks and other businesses were closed in Taalabaya and Saadnayel on Tuesday for fear of renewed fighting. More Lebanese troops, backed by commando units, were dispatched early Tuesday to beef up security in the embattled areas.