Clashes in north Lebanon wound 10, including five soldiers

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Fierce clashes between the Lebanese Army and Islamist gunmen in the northern city of Tripoli showed no sign of stopping Saturday morning, with at least 10 people including five soldiers wounded overnight, security sources said.

A 17-year-old Lebanese boy, a Syrian and a Lebanese photographer were among the wounded in the fighting, the most intense in the city since the government implemented a security plan last spring to end sporadic clashes between opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Sources in the town said the armed group that attacked the Army was affiliated with ISIS and that Nusra Front fighters had rejected calls by the militants to join the fight.

A militant was killed during the clashed, which erupted Friday evening after gunmen attacked an Army patrol unit in Tripoli’s old souks.

Several ambulances were forced to evacuate some of the neighborhoods due to heavy fighting while a huge fire erupted in a shop in the Al-Arid market.

The sounds of rocket-propelled grenade explosions were heard throughout the night as soldiers, backed by armored vehicles, chased gunmen in the tiny streets of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city.

The city seemed deserted Saturday morning as most shops remained closed and residents took refuge in their own homes.

The Army reinforced its positions, deploying additional soldiers and snipers who were stationed on top of several buildings in the souks, where the clashes were concentrated, security sources said

The attack on the Army Friday evening was in retaliation for the arrest of an alleged ISIS commander who the military detained earlier Thursday during a raid in Dinnieh, north Lebanon, a security source told The Daily Star.

Described as a high-value terror suspect, Mikati allegedly told interrogators that he planned to kidnap more servicemen to exert pressure on the government to accept a swap deal with the militants holding 27 soldiers and policemen hostage.

An Army statement Thursday described Mikati, 46, as “one of ISIS’ most important cadres” in north Lebanon. It said Mikati planned a “massive terrorist act” in coordination with his son, Omar, who is fighting with ISIS on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal. Mikati is also accused of recruiting young Lebanese men to join ISIS in Syria's Qalamoun region.

The security source said Mikati confessed that his group was involved in a plot to persuade Lebanese soldiers in the Dinnieh region to defect from the Army and join ISIS.