Dinnieh clashes
Dinnieh fighting | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
![]() |
![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Francois al-Hajj | Bassam Ahmad Kanj | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
13,000 | 200-300 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
12 killed[1] |
25 killed 55 captured |
The Dinnieh fighting (30 December 1999-6 January 2000) involved the Islamist group Takfir wa al-Hijra and the Lebanese Army fighting for eight days[1] in the mountainous Dinnieh region, east of the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.
Over a period of several days, an estimated 13,000 Lebanese army troops backed by tanks and artillery swiftly defeated the group of 200-300 rebels, driving isolated bands of surviving guerrillas into remote areas of north Lebanon. The Lebanese army reported a total of 12 soldiers killed in action, while 25 rebels were killed and 55 captured.[2][3][4]
Group
The Dinniyeh Group was a group of 200-300 Islamist militants led by Bassam Ahmad Kanj. In January 2000 The Dinniyeh Group launched a failed attempt to create an Islamist mini-state in northern Lebanon.[5] The militants seized control of dozens of villages in the mountainous Dinniyeh district, east of Tripoli before being defeated by a force of 13,000 Lebanese soldiers in several days of intense combat.[5]
Aftermath
After the fighting members of The Dinniyeh Group who were not killed or captured fled to Ain al-Hilweh. According to court documents from judicial proceedings against captured members, the group had received financial support from associates of Osama bin Laden through bank accounts in Beirut and north Lebanon.[5] In 2005, members of the group were released by a parliamentary resolution after the 2005 elections which also pardoned the most powerful anti-Syrian Christian leader Samir Geagea.
References
- ^ a b "Bin Laden's Network in Lebanon" (September 2001)
- ^ LEBANON - The Limited Scope For Sunni Militancy. - APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map | Encyclopedia.com
- ^ "Syrian, Lebanese Security Forces Crush Sunni Islamist Opposition" (January 2000)
- ^ Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | Islamists on a rampage in Lebanon
- ^ a b c Ain al-Hilweh: Lebanon's "Zone of Unlaw" (June 2003)