Pregnant woman loses her baby due to stray bullet in Bibnine, Akkar

NORTH LEBANON — Bibnine, a village in Akkar district, witnessed two armed incidents in recent hours, including one where a pregnant woman in her ninth month was hit by a stray bullet, causing her to lose the baby, according to L'Orient Today's local correspondent.

The first incident took place on Wednesday when members of two local clans clashed near the village square, causing significant property damage but no casualties. The gunfight, sparked by a longstanding dispute, spread panic among residents and forced businesses to close. The Lebanese Army intervened, carrying out raids to arrest those involved.

The second, a pregnant woman in her ninth month lost her baby and required emergency surgery after being hit by a stray bullet in nearby Rihanieh, her family said.

Kifah Kassar, a member of the Higher Islamic Shura Council affiliated with Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s top Sunni authority, condemned what he called a “chaotic” phenomenon that “disregards human life.”

“This prevailing chaos is not new, but the result of years of laxity that have made firearms part of family traditions,” he said. Kassar added that he would ask the Shura Council and Grand Mufti Abdellatif Deriane to issue a fatwa banning the possession of firearms in homes.

Although illegal, celebratory gunfire remains widespread in Lebanon. Parliament toughened penalties last May through an amendment to a 2016 law, but the practice continues. Offenders face one to six years in prison, or up to 20 years of hard labor and a fine if deaths occur.

According to Beirut-based Information International, stray bullets killed an average of seven people and injured 15 each year between 2010 and 2021.

Reporting by our regional correspondent Michel Hallak.