100 suspects arrested in Beirut, Tripoli clashes

The Lebanese army said in a statement issued on Tuesday that it had arrested over 100 suspects in the recent clashes in Beirut and Tripoli. “Army troops deployed in the areas that witnessed security tensions in the past few days, arrested around 100 people, and confiscated arms and military equipment,” the statement said. The army said that among the detained were 34 Syrian nationals and four Palestinian nationals, adding that 13 soldiers and two officers were injured during the raids to arrest the suspects. Also in the Beqaa, the army arrested five men for possessing and trafficking arms. The army added that it would continue conducting raids in both Beirut and Tripoli until calm was restored. Deadly violence hit the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend, and several people were wounded in Beirut fighting on Sunday as tensions spiked following the murder of Internal Security Forces intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan in a car bombing in Beirut’s Ashrafieh on Friday.