Who Protects Tripoli from Suicide Bombers?
Mohammad Malas
The two suicide-bombers Bilal al-Merhian and Taha al-Khayal failed to achieve the goals they were seeking to realize through the terrorist bombing that took place in Jabal Mohsen and targeted a popular café, killing nine and wounding tens.
What the suicide-bombers wanted, and behind them al-Nusra Front and "ISIL", was not attained, albeit their keenness on executing the operation with utter professionalism, in terms of their knowledge of the region's geography where many coffee shops line beside each other.
A security source has told al-Ahed that the two suicide-bombers are known for their hardline thoughts. He said that they had joined al-Nusra Front since almost a year and a half and that they were included on a list made by the security authorities, among some other hundred men from Tripoli, al-Mankoubin, and Tabbaneh, who had joined al-Nusra and "ISIL" in Qalamoun, via the illegitimate passageways. This has become clear inside Tripoli streets which are used by too many personalities who are linked to armed groups in Syria and working on recruiting tens to join al-Nusra and "ISIL".
The source continues: "Those young men are known by the security authorities. Some among them have joined "ISIL" in Iraq. Others are still fighting alongside al-Nusra in Syria." Besides, field sources in Tripoli said that one of the suicide-bombers had been seen more than once at the targeted café, and that he had returned from Syria before the recent events that erupted between the army and the group of Shadi Mawlawi and Ousama Mansour. Moreover, according to the tally, he had participated in the battles against the army and disappeared afterwards; meanwhile, he has probably joined al-Nusra Front in Syria where he has been prepared for targeting citizens in Jabal Mohsen.
Tripoli sons: the tragedy of Jabal Mohsen locals is ours
It is clear that the goals of the suicide-bombers were not just to inflict human losses in Jabal Mohsen. As a matter of fact, al-Nusra Front selected the bombers from al-Mankoubin, only to sow discord between the two regions, in an attempt to revive the strife that has been clearly nipped between the sons of Jabal Mohsen and the Tripolitanians, who spurned what happened and underlined their condemnation of the crime.
The position of the Tripolitanians contributed to soothing the pain of the martyrs' families, which drove them to express, more than once, that Tripoli and Jabal Mohsen are one and that "their tragedy is ours;" this is what reduced any provocation that would normally accompany the blast which managed to unite people instead of dividing them, and to bring them closer.
Some of them even participated in the funerals held in Jabal Mohsen and paid condolences to the martyrs' families, on top of whom the family of al- Khayal, who voiced refusal of what one of their sons had done, considering the act as deplored and condemned. The family also contacted a number of officials of the Arab Democratic Party to inform them that a wide delegation of the family would partake in the funerals.
In turn, the locals of Jabal Mohsen regarded what happened as an attempt not just to target the region, but also Tripoli and Lebanon. Furthermore, they expressed their solidarity with the military institution, stressing that what al-Nusra Front did was a reaction to its defeat in Arsal and Qalamoun, and that it is trying to open a new suicidal front in the north after it failed to reach the southern suburb of Beirut.
It is clear that the security of the north is now at stake, after the attack in Jabal Mohsen, and that for the Takfiri armed groups, the northern axis is now in crosshairs after their failure to reach the Lebanese interior from the Bekaa regions. Further mobilization by the security apparatuses is now a stringent need, especially in the internal areas of Tripoli that have become supporting for al-Nusra and "ISIL".
It is now mandatory to preclude this thought from infiltrating into the minds of the youth who are being lured by religion, by particular persons who are in constant touch with the armed groups outside the borders.
Source: al- Ahed news
