Bab Al-Tabbaneh-Jabal Mohsen clashes
| Bab al-Tabbaneh–Jabal Mohsen conflict | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lebanese army personnel on Syria Street, guarding the road between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in 2011 |
|||||
|
|||||
| Belligerents | |||||
|
Salafists (during 2008 conflict) |
Arab Democratic Party (2012-present, from within Bab al-Tabbaneh) |
||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
|
Said Shaaban |
Rifa'at Eid | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| ~1000 | ~400 | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| Hundreds | |||||
Salafists
Tawhid Movement
(during Lebanese Civil War)
Arab Democratic Party
Syria (during Lebanese Civil War)
Said Shaaban
Hashem Minkara
Ziad Alloukeh
Jalal Dandashi
Amer Arish
Husam Al Sabbagh
The Bab al-Tabbaneh–Jabal Mohsen conflict is a recurring conflict between Sunni Muslim residents of the Bab-al-Tibbaneh and Alawite Muslim residents of the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhoods of Tripoli, Lebanon. Residents of the two neighbourhoods have been rivals since the Lebanese Civil War, and have often engaged in violence. They are divided along sectarian lines, as well as by their opposition to or support of the Alawite-led Syrian government. Violence flared up during the Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon.
Sunni Muslims and Alawites have been in conflict with each other for centuries. The Alawites of the Levant were oppressed by the Sunni Ottoman Empire, but gained power and influence when the French recruited Alawites as soldiers during the French Mandate of Syria. After independence from France, their co-religionists came to power in Syria in 1966 (represented by the al-Assad family since 1970). This angered some of the Sunni majority of Syria, which reacted with an Islamist uprising in Syria, an insurgency which was crushed by the 1982 Hama massacre.
With 500,000 inhabitants, Tripoli is the second largest city in Lebanon after Beirut. As an overwhelming part of these are Sunni Muslims, the city is considered the traditional bastion of conservative Sunnis in Lebanon. In general, Sunnis represent 27% of the whole Lebanese population. Being a Sunni stronghold, all major currents of Lebanese Sunni Islamism have been centered in the city. Black banners with Quranic inscriptions crisscross the streets and dozens of free religious schools preach rigid Sunni doctrines and more women are spotted taking up the "niqab." Tripoli is also the birthplace of Lebanon's Salafi movement, a puritanical Sunni movement. The Sunnis of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the rest of Lebanon have close ties with Saudi Arabia, which supports them financially.
...
Wikipedia