Home Muslim World News N Lebanon clashes kill one Imam, wound three others

N Lebanon clashes kill one Imam, wound three others

By Xnhua,

Beirut : A gun battle between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in a north Lebanon village mosque on Sunday left one Imam killed and three others wounded, Local Naharnet website reported Monday.

Automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the fighting in the village of Sheikhlar, which left Imam Ezzedine Qassem killed and was “triggered by dispute between villagers,” the report said.

Security officials said that rescue workers had not been unable to enter because of the intensity of the fighting at the time, the report added.

The village is 50 km north of Tripoli city, which had witnessed fierce clashes between the two communities in June and July, which left 23 people killed and many others wounded.

Tension has been high between the two factions, Sunni supporters of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora’s government, and the Alawites, a branch of Shiite Muslims, which supports the Hezbollah-led opposition.