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April 2015 back issue
Sectarian Armed Clashes connected to the Spill Over from the Syrian civil war.
In Lebanon’s second largest city, Tripoli, Alawites loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime battle with Sunnis
who support the Free Syrian opposition that live within blocks of each-other. Clashes in Tripoli have been happening
for over 30 years, since the Lebanese civil war and the Syrian military occupation. The death toll from the latest cause
of fighting, the spillover of the Syrian civil war, totals to over 400 dead, thousands wounded and dozens of Lebanese
army personnel killed.
Many of the Sunni fighters have crossed into Syria to fight alongside the Free Syrian Army against the Syrian
government and its allies. Tripoli is a city that directly shadows the war in neighboring Syria. With bombings in both
Tripoli and Beirut, the sectarian arms race in Tripoli continues for weaponry for what the fighters in Bab al Tebbaneh
fear is going to be the worst fighting seen in the region.
Alawites Muslims populate a hillside called Jabal Mohsen and they are a minority in Tripoli. The streets of Jabal
Mohsen are plastered with posters of Syrian president Bashar al Assad and Alawite martyrs. Sunni Muslims are the
majority in the city, but the most militant live in Bab al Tebbaneh, a neighborhood that rests in the valley at the base of
Jabal Mohsen. Events in Syria easily trigger an exchange of sniper fire and mortar shelling. All militias engaged in the
conflict are heavily armed with RPGs, mortars, and heavy machine guns. In one night, over 1,000 mortars were
exchanged. The Lebanese army has returned repeatedly to try and stabilize the area resulting in many casualties
without making headway. The army has created a buffer zone on a street ironically named Syria Street, which has
served as a front line between the battling sects since the conflict began in 2011. The conflict has shut down schools
and tourism to the city, previously booming, is nearly now non-existent. Despite efforts by the Lebanese government
to use their forces to tamper the fighting, the city continues to suffer under the heavy burden of the Syrian civil war.
by Omar Alkalouti
Abu Hassin, 38, a “freelance fighter” meaning he belongs to no specific group gets equipment checked and ready for
possible clashes after sun down. Hassin, has been a fighter and leader in the neighborhood since the Syrian
occupation. Sunni fighter,s some who have been fighting in the area for over twenty years in Bab al Tabbaneh, believe
the time is coming for major conflict against the Alawite militias based in nearby Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli, Lebanon.
This battle scarred building in Bab al Tabbaneh is covered in Sunni martyr posters who have died both in Tripoli and
fighting in Syria. It is monumental to the Sunni brigades in the area and a symbol to the older fighters who stopped the
Syrian army occupation at this building from advancing deeper into Tripoli in the early 1980s.
Lebanese Army armoured units patrol the streets of Tripoli in an attempt to quell a six day stretch of clashes between
Alawite and Sunni militias. The Lebanese army in October of 2013 was ordered to stay in Tripoli for six months and
continue heavy patrols and reinforce all positions and check points.
Sniper tarps are erected in the streets of Bab al Tebbaneh while under fire from Alawite fighters based in Jabal
Mohsen. These men wait for the runners to toss the chord so they can pull it like a sail until fully open over the
intersection. This will allow traffic and fighters to cross the large intersection more freely.
Sniper tarps are erected in the streets of Bab al Tebbaneh while under fire from Alawite fighters based in Jabal
Mohsen. These intersections must be covered to move ammunition and fighters from one street to the next.
Private arsenals filled with new and old weaponry in Tripoli are scattered throughout the city inside shops and homes.
Both Sunni and Alawite militias are constantly preparing for major clashes in Lebanon due to the direct effect of the
Syrian conflict that has spilled into the streets of the country since it began over two years ago.
Sunni fighters in Tripoli’s Bab al Tabbaneh prepare for
possible night clashes against the Alawite militias based
in Jabal Mohsen by checking weapons and loading
magazine into their web gear, the night ended in sporadic
sniper fire between the neighbourhoods.
Private arsenals filled with new and old weaponry are
scattered throughout the city. In this stash a photo of
Sunni leader and former prim minister Saad Harirri hangs
on the wall behind a stash of RPGs, mortars, and a
selection of sniper rifles and machine guns.
Abu Ahmed, a sniper from the Sunni al Farruq brigade from Bab al Tebbaneh displays his recent wounds from clashes
with the Alawite fighters, a bullet entered from behind his jaw and exited at the lower gums and another shattered his
thumb. He explained that Lebanese hospitals are weary of treating wounded fighters because of consequences from
the Lebanese Army. Ahmed was imprisoned in the most feared Syrian prison in Palmyra, "I spent 16 years in a Syrian
prison, I can not afford to trust anyone who allies with Bashar Assad," he explains.
Abu Ahmed, a Sunni fighter prepares for clashes and shares his thoughts on ending the conflict in Tripoli. "If the
Lebanese army came and disarmed all militias, I would be pleased," says Abu Ahmed continuing, "I'm an interior
decorator, I miss my line of work and I'm tired of fighting." He wears a ski mask to remain unrecognizable to the
Lebanese army when patrolling the streets.
A fighter from the Sunni neighbourhood of Bab al Tebbaneh fires his assault rifle at Alawite snipers while driving his
scooter across an open intersection.
Sniper from the Bab al Tebbaneh neighbourhood fires his weapon made in the USA from fortifications on Syria Street
at Alawite sniper positions less than a block away in Jabal Mohsen. Day clashes consist of continuous sniping and
random mortar and rocket propelled grenade fire between the two neighbourhoods.
Sunni fighters in Bab al Tebanneh gather undercover and collect men, ammunition, and ready their weapons, to
continue in clashes against Alawite fighters up the street in Jabal Mohsen.
Lebanese Sunnis in Tripoli are illegally arming themselves with the latest in modern weaponry from black markets in
Tripoli for upcoming escalation in violence due to recent bombings and the spillover of the Syrian civil war. This fighters
response to why carry and purchase weapons was, "If we do not protect ourselves who will?"
Abu Koder, 18, fights with the al Farruq brigade in Bab al Tebanneh, “School’s closed today,” he says as his fellow
fighters joke with him and explain how brave he is in battle. The fighters in Tebanneh are of all ages but mostly rage in
their late teens and early 20s.
Lebanese armoured vehicles block the main up hill road that has seen the worst fighting in the last months, this road
separates the battling neighbourhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab Tebbaneh in Tripoli.
Jabal Mohsen, the Alawite neighbourhood that rest on a hill surrounded by Sunni neighbourhoods below. The Alawite
population in Lebanon is 120,000, 60,000 of which live in Jabal Mohsen. Here on every street corner, shop, and home,
there are images of Syrian president Bashar al Assad. During the Syrian occupation of Lebanon the Alawite militias
cooperated with the Syrians in policing and fighting Sunni militant groups in Tripoli. Now entrenched on their hill the
fight continues with the Syrian civil war echoing into their streets. The Alwaite militias and political leaders have
continued close ties to president Assad’s family in Syria.
These bullet riddled buildings belong to the Alawite section of Tripoli that rest on Jabal Mohsen that overlooks the
Sunni populated area, Bab Al Tebbaneh. These buildings surround the Alawite section and have been deserted and
remain as fortified frontlines for Alawite fighters and snipers to attack and defend their homes from mortars and heavy
gunfire from Bab Al Tebbaneh and surrounding neighbourhoods below.
Syria Street is at the heart of the fighting in Tripoli, the street sits at the base of Jabal Mohsen where Alawite militias
loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Assad supported by Hezbollah battle with the Sunni supporters of the Syrian
opposition at the base of the hill in Bab al Tabbaneh.
