Beirut, 19 May (AKI) - A Lebanese soldier shot in a skirmish between Lebanese army troops and Palestinian militants near the Syrian border died on Friday. The soldier, Mustafa Mitlej, died at the Jab Janine hospital in the southern Bekaa Valley following the injuries he sustained on Wednesday, medical sources said. The fighting began on Wednesday morning when armed members of a Syrian-backed Palestinian group, Fatah-Intifada, opened fire on a Lebanese army patrol. Mitlej and two Palestinian fighters were injured in the ensuing gunfight.
Fatah-Intifada's top representative in Lebanon, Abu Fadi Hammad, said Friday said Mitlej's shooting was and "accident." "We are saddened by the death of the Lebanese soldier. It is not in our interest that such incidents occur," he told Adnkronos-International (AKI). | "Ya know how pissed off soldiers git when one of their buddies gets wacked" |
The skirmish comes amid reports that Fatah-Intifada is bolstering its deployment of men and equipment along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Lebanese authorities have confirmed news reports of some 15 trucks carrying weapons and Fatah-Intifada militants crossing into Lebanon from Syria on Wednesday night.
Lebanese authorities have in turn increased the deployment of troops along the border, reports said. | Sniff, sniff. Say, do I smell popcorn cooking? |
The Lebanon's main political groupings have recently agreed on a deadline of six months by which time all Palestinian armed groups outside Palestinian refugee camps must disband. The request is also backed by a United Nations Security Council resolution which calls for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon. |