Syrian unrest spills over to Lebanon

2012-08-22 22:15

Beirut - The Syrian conflict has fuelled tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, which lived through 30 years of Syrian domination and remains deeply divided between opponents and supporters of President Bashar Assad.

Since the uprising against Assad's regime started in March 2011, incursions and Syrian gunfire have left several dead and wounded in the religiously-divided country, which has also taken in tens of thousands of refugees.

--2011--

- 17 June: Six people are killed and several injured in clashes between Sunnis and Alawites after protests against Syria's regime in the northern city of Tripoli.

- 8 August: Ex-premier Saad Hariri urges his country to denounce the "massacre" taking place in Syria. He also calls on the new government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in which Hezbollah plays a key role, to dissociate itself from backing the repression.

--2012--

- 13 March: Syria plants landmines near its borders with Lebanon and Turkey, along routes used by refugees fleeing the country, Human Rights Watch says.

- 28 April: Lebanon intercepts a ship suspected of carrying weapons destined for Syria's rebel army.

- 12-17 May: Ten people are killed and dozens injured in clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian districts in Tripoli.

- 20 May: Lebanese troops shoot dead a Sunni cleric. A day later street battles between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in a Sunni neighbourhood of Beirut leave two people dead.

- 22 May: Rebels in northern Syria kidnap 11 Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo as they were returning home by bus from a pilgrimage in Iran.

- 1-3 June: Soldiers and security forces enter the Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts of Tripoli after 14 people are killed and 48 wounded in clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian regime gunmen.

- 23 July: President Michel Sleiman accuses Syria of violating Lebanese territory after a house was hit by a blast and shells fell on the northern border. On the 25th, Syria and Lebanon trade charges of border violations.

- 9 August: Security forces arrest ex-information minister Michel Samaha, who is considered close to the Syrian regime. Two days later he is accused by the military prosecution of planning attacks in Lebanon along with Syrian security chief General Ali Mamluk.

- 15 August: Dozens of Syrians are kidnapped and Syrian-owned shops vandalised in Beirut after unconfirmed reports that several Lebanese abducted in Syria died in an air strike. Gulf nations order their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.

- 20-22 August: Three days of clashes between gunmen in rival Tripoli districts leave eight dead and 75 injured, security and hospital sources say.

France and the United States express concern over the latest flareup in Tripoli and warn against a spillover of the Syrian conflict.

- AFP