Calm returns to Baalbek … the army took control

Hussein Darwish wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat, calm has returned to the city of Baalbek and its environs in eastern Lebanon, after tension and military build-up between the Al-Shamas and Jaafar clans, following the killing of a person for retaliatory motives, through two paths, the first of which is security undertaken by the Lebanese army, and the second is political and social through intervention Partisan and clan activities and activities in the region to impose calm and prevent the expansion of clashes between the armed men of the two clans.

Yesterday, the Lebanese army was able to put an end to the armed manifestations between the Jaafar and Shams clans, through the massive deployment it achieved on Wednesday afternoon on the axes of the Boudai Road, the stronghold of the Shams clan, and the White Hill and the Sherawneh, the stronghold of the Jaafar clan, and reaching the entrances to the city of Baalbek, Dors, and Boudai in western Baalbek. .The army units deployed in the Bekaa implemented security measures and measures, and arrested 14 people who were traveling in two cars in the Harbata Plain area, the northern Bekaa, in possession of a quantity of weapons and ammunition. The weapons and the two vehicles were confiscated, and the detainees were referred to the competent authorities. Yesterday, the army units in the Bekaa continued their security measures to pursue those who violated security, and conducted patrols and set up circumstantial checkpoints in the area.

The deployment of the army, with its military and portable mechanisms, was followed by the movement of a committee of clans, families and parties that visited late on Wednesday night the two clans, and a committee consisting of clans, families and parties, with the consent of the two parties from the Shamas and Jaafar clans, took control of the dispute between the two clans over the rule of tribal custom. The committee commended the stance of the two clans for their full response to the proposals and demands of the committee that provides for a solution in accordance with the custom followed by the tribes, and the efforts were completed yesterday with a meeting held in the afternoon.

Sources said that the meeting yesterday “complemented the movements on Wednesday night, and the gathering emphasized the removal of the checkpoints and the armed manifestations that had spread in the region during the past four days, coinciding with the killing of Muhammad Shamas.” The meeting stressed the necessity of condemning those who commit any crime, and acknowledging that matters will return to the state and judiciary. The meeting stressed the necessity of surrendering to the judiciary to rule with what is right for this or that. ”

An active source on the line of calm and reconciliation confirmed that the solution “requires setting the record straight, which is a request from the Jaafar clan to hand over the four wanted persons to the judiciary on charges of killing Muhammad Shamas, in addition to the need to put an end to the security chaos and armed manifestations on the roads and to preserve the security of Baalbek and the region.”

The “Airborne” and “Commando” regiments in the Lebanese Army continue to patrol the area, setting up a number of checkpoints reinforced with military verses in the vicinity of the Sharawna neighborhood, on the international road in the Al-Tal Al-Abyad area, and on the roads leading to Boudai, in order to preserve the security of the area and prevent the armed manifestations that spread heavily During the past two days in the manifestations of the show of power between the two clans.