 BEIRUT (AP)
Israeli warplanes overfly Hizbollah strongholds in Bekaa
Police clashed with rioters who burned tires, threw stones and fired
guns in protest against attempts to demolish illegal housing in
Lebanon’s capital yesterday.
Police said at least five people suffered gunshot wounds, but it was
not immediately clear whether they were wounded by fire from the
rioters or police officers.
The rioters blocked one of the two main roads leading to Beirut airport
where it passes through the city’s southern suburbs. The main highway
to the airport remained open, however.
Police said that when their officers arrived to enforce a government
order to remove illegal shacks in the southern districts, local
residents hurled stones at them and blocked the streets with burning
tires and trash cans.
Armed men in the crowd opened fire on the police, prompting them to
return fire, a police spokesman said, speaking on customary condition
of anonymity.
The five gunshot casualties were civilians, the spokesman said, adding
that the rioters damaged three police vehicles.
The city’s southern districts are a stronghold of Hizbollah, the
political party and resistance group that was targeted by Israel during
its 34-day offensive in Lebanon in July and August. Israeli aircraft
inflicted massive damage on parts of the southern suburbs, leveling
entire blocks around suspected offices and homes of Hizbollah officials.
Yesterday’s riot comes at a time of political tension in Lebanon, with
Hizbollah and its allies calling for a national unity government. The
Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and his political allies
oppose such a move.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes yesterday flew low over the Bekaa Valley
and its main town of Baalbek, both strongholds of Hizbollah in eastern
Lebanon, witnesses said.
Two jets screamed over the region which borders Syria, without drawing
a response from Hizbollah fighters or the Lebanese army.
Israel has been violating Lebanese airspace on an almost daily basis
since the August 14 ceasefire in its war with Hizbollah sparked by the
guerrillas’ capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12.
Despite Lebanese protests, the Jewish state has said it will carry on
with the overflights until the soldiers are released and to keep
Hizbollah from being resupplied with arms. Last update on: 7-10-2006 |