(Photo sent by our correspondent Michel Hallak)
AKKAR — A dispute between families over the cutting down of a lemon tree spiraled into a violent armed confrontation in Akkar on Wednesday evening, leaving one person dead and three injured.
According to L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the north, Michel Hallak, the dispute took place in Amara, a town on the Akkar plains, and broke out between members of the Helou and Breiss families. One of the wounded, Ali Breiss, was transferred to the Kheir hospital in Minieh, where he later died, having succumbed to his wounds.
According to a statement from the Breiss family, the Helou family accused Ali of chopping down a lemon tree, “ambushed” him and then shot him in the back as he rode away on his motorcycle.
For their part, the Helou family rejected the allegations of an ambush and released a statement that read: “In reality, there was no animosity between us and them … We strongly condemn the acts of vandalism and theft that have affected our homes and property, perpetrated by thugs taking advantage of this unfortunate event.”
A small child was wounded by a stray bullet in the aggression and chaos surrounding Ali’s killing. She was transferred to the Abdallah al-Rassi government hospital in Halba for treatment and is in stable condition.
The death of Ali Breiss has aggravated tensions, leading to further disorder and heavy gunfire, Hallak reports. Cars, houses, and lemon fields were set on fire.
The Civil Defense was unable to extinguish the fires amid the turmoil, prompting the Lebanese Army to dispatch patrols on foot and in vehicles to the area. The army pursued the gunmen and those involved in the incident, and managed to restore a certain degree of calm. Security forces began their investigation into the circumstances of the confrontation.
Events of this kind are a regular occurrence in Lebanon, where the security situation has deteriorated significantly, exacerbated by a crippling economic crisis, spurred on by rampant corruption, which has plunged the majority of the population into poverty. Weapons circulate freely in certain regions and their being readily available in times of tension and anger greatly increases the likelihood of a confrontation becoming deadly.
Reporting by Michel Hallak.