Bags containing drugs confiscated by the Lebanese Army during searches in al-Sharawneh area of Baalbeck. (Credit: Twitter/@LebarmyOfficial)
BEIRUT — Gunfire resounded in the al-Sharawneh neighborhood in Baalbeck on Monday as clashes erupted for the fourth consecutive day between the Lebanese Army and wanted convicts, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the Bekaa reported.
Here’s what we know:
• “Abou Salle,” a drug dealer involved in car theft and weapons trade, remained on the loose on Monday as the Lebanese Army continued to actively search for him after he evaded arrest during an army raid in al-Sharawneh on Friday, a Lebanese Army spokesperson confirmed to L’Orient Today.
• Friday’s raid went on for hours and resulted in an armed clash between the army and wanted convicts. According to an army statement released Friday, one soldier was killed and five others were injured in the incident.
• On Sunday, two soldiers were injured during a raid in the same locality. The same day, the army said it arrested 12 people and seized weaponry and took control of a drug factory in the neighborhood.
• The spokesperson for the army also told L’Orient Today on Monday that one of the soldiers that was injured on Friday is currently in a critical condition.
• A resident of Baalbeck told L’Orient Today that 42-year-old Ali Zeaiter, who is nicknamed “Abou Salle” because he was known for throwing a basket (salle) from his balcony containing narcotic pills and hashish to his customers in Beirut, is believed to have moved to al-Sharawneh neighborhood a few years ago, where he has been hiding since.
• Videos circulated on social media on Sunday show several women of the al-Sharawneh neighborhood vehemently expressing their opposition to the army’s operation to apprehend Abou Salle.
• Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bashir Khodr however issued a statement Sunday, saying that “no problem exists between the Lebanese Army and the people of Baalbek-Hermel, who have always been calling for the imposition of security and the prosecution of wanted persons, so as to live in peace in their area.” Khodr also called for the implementation of investment projects in the governorate “because the absence of development is the main reason that leads to such “plagues in society,” in reference to the prevalence of the illegal drugs trade in the area.