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| Lebanese militants kill 16 soldiers in Sidon |
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.jpg) Lebanese army units battled followers of a hard-line Sunni cleric holed up in a mosque complex in a southern port city on Monday, the second day of fighting that has left at least 16 soldiers dead, the military said.
The clashes in Sidon, Lebanon's third-largest city some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, are the latest bout of violence in Lebanon linked to the foreign-sponsored insurgency in neighboring Syria, The Associated Press reported.
They are the bloodiest yet involving the army — at least two of those killed are officers.
The two days of fighting between troops and armed supporters of Sheikh Ahmad Assir have transformed the city, which had been largely spared the violence plaguing border areas near Syria, into a combat zone.
The National News Agency said the clashes also left fifty wounded.
Hospital officials said at least three of Assir's supporters died in the fighting.
The military in a statement said the gunmen were using the religious compound to fire on its troops and had taken civilians as shields.
Machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade explosions caused panic among residents of Sidon. Residents reported power and water outage.
The city streets appeared largely deserted on Monday. Local media reported many residents were asking for evacuation from the heavily populated neighborhood around the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque where Assir preaches, and where the fighting has been concentrated. The local municipality said that the city is "a war zone," appealing for a cease-fire to evacuate the civilians and wounded in the area.
Many people living on upper floors came down or fled to safer areas, while others were seen running away from fighting areas carrying children. Others remained locked up in their homes or shops, fearing getting caught in the crossfire. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city.
The military appealed to the gunmen to hand themselves in. In its statement, it said that it "reassures all Lebanese that it will continue to uproot the strife and will not stop its operations until security is totally restored to the city and its boroughs, and falls under the rule of law and order."
The clashes erupted Sunday in the predominantly Sunni city after troops arrested a follower of Assir. The army says supporters of the cleric opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.
A sheikh in the city, Imam Maher Hamoud, said Assir had vowed retaliation following the Syrian Army's victory in Qusayr backed by Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah.
Following the violence, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman called in all ministers and security chiefs for a meeting on Monday.
Sleiman also declared that the Army has full liberty to counter the aggressors and stop the perpetrators to maintain calm.
The military checkpoint where the attack took place is located on the main road to Abra, near the Bilal bin Rabah.
On June 18, clashes initiated by the Salafists in Sidon left at least one civilian dead, and many others wounded.
On Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said two rockets fired from the Syrian territory hit a Hezbollah stronghold in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa region.
Foreign-backed militants fighting in Syria have been blamed for a number of rocket attacks along the Lebanese border.
Although Lebanon’s government has officially adopted a position of neutrality over the situation in neighboring Syria, Salafists who support extremists in Syria continue to attack people across the border.
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