Lebanon

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Sectarianism fears grow in Lebanon over Syria
By Al Jazeera
30 April 2013

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© Human Rights Watch

Lebanon/Syria: End Indiscriminate Cross-Border Attacks
Human Rights Watch
22 April 2013

(Beirut) – All parties to the conflict in Syria should stop indiscriminate cross-border attacks on inhabited areas in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today.

On April 14, 2013, a Syrian opposition armed group, identifying itself as Omar al- Farouq Brigade, shelled the Shia villages of al-Qasr and Hawsh al- Sayyed in northern Bekaa killing two civilians and wounding three. The nature of the rockets and launchers that appear to have been used, together with the lack of any evidence of military targets in the villages, strongly suggests these attacks were indiscriminate and therefore violate the laws of war. (read more)

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Lebanon to protest to Arab League after spillover Syrian fire kills two 
By Agencies, The National 
16 April 2013

BEIRUT // Lebanon yesterday condemned the spillover of fire from Syrian rebel and regime forces onto its territory and said it would protest to the Arab League after artillery fire killed two people on Sunday.

“The safety of every Lebanese citizen and village is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, and any attack from any side is unacceptable,” social affairs minister Wael Abu Faour said after a ministerial meeting.

He said the foreign ministry would “undertake all necessary measures and communications to ensure all sides bear their responsibilities and do not repeat such attacks.” (read more)

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New sectarian kidnap in Lebanon: security source
Agence France-Presse
26 March 26 2013

Gunmen from a Shiite clan kidnapped a man from a Sunni town in Lebanon on Tuesday in the latest incident of sectarian kidnaps related to the conflict in Syria, a security official said.

“Gunmen from the Jaafar clan kidnapped a man from the town of Arsal,” in northern Lebanon, the official told AFP.

The wave of sectarian kidnappings began on Sunday when Hussein Kamel Jaafar, 37, was kidnapped by unidentified assailants, and reportedly taken into Syria. (read more)

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Sectarian clashes kill three in north Lebanon city
Reporting by Nazih Sadiq; Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Sophie Hares, Reuters
21 March 2013

Three people were killed in a second night of sectarian fighting in Lebanon’s port city of Tripoli on Thursday, residents said, the latest spate of violence fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria.

At least 18 were wounded, security sources said, as sounds of machineguns and rocket propelled grenades rocked neighboring districts that are home to communities linked to both sides of the Syrian conflict.

One area is dominated by Lebanese Sunni Muslims, who support the Sunni-led uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the other is an enclave of Lebanese Alawites, the same Shi’ite Muslim offshoot to which the Syrian leader belongs. (read more)

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One killed in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli
Reporting by Nazih Siddiq; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Reuters
20 March 2013

One person was shot dead and more than 20 were wounded by gunfire in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Wednesday, security sources said, in sectarian violence fuelled by the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

The dead man was from the Jabal Mohsen district, an enclave of Alawite residents in the mainly Sunni Muslim port city. Most Sunni Muslims in Lebanon support the uprising against Assad, who is from the Syria’s Alawite minority.

Tensions over the Syrian crisis have frequently led to street fighting in Tripoli, most recently in December when at least 12 people were killed. (read more)

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Five Syrian shells land in Lebanon despite warning
Writing by Oliver Holmes, reporting by Afif Diab, editing by Angus macSwan, Reuters
20 March 2013

Five shells fired from Syria landed in Lebanon on Wednesday, one day after Lebanese President Michel Suleiman warned that Syrian strikes on its neighbor were an unacceptable violation of its sovereignty.Witnesses said the shells landed in fields near al-Qasr, a village less than a mile from the border, but no one was hurt.

The Syrian government, battling a two-year-old revolt against four decades of rule by the Assad family, has warned it may strike at Syrian rebels taking refuge across the frontier. (read more)

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Lebanese President Michel Sleiman attends a Cabinet session at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012 (The Daily Star/Mohammad Azakir)

Tension high after Syria army kills four in Lebanon
The Daily Star
25 February 2013

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Lebanon’s president and prime minister urged Syria Sunday to stop shelling Lebanese territory after four Lebanese were killed by gunfire from the Syrian side of the border, in incidents that heightened tensions on the two neighbors’ frontier.

The renewal of deadly incidents on the Lebanese-Syrian border, which had claimed the lives of several Lebanese citizens last year, evoked fresh calls by the opposition March 14 parties for the deployment of the Lebanese Army and U.N. troops along the two countries’ common boundaries.

President Michel Sleiman voiced regret over the death of Lebanese citizens by Syrian shelling in the northern Wadi Khaled region and the village of Heesha near the border with Syria, while Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to protest to Syrian authorities over these incidents. (read more)

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For earlier articles, please see the “Archived Updates” section on Lebanon’s page. 

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