Lebanese troops seize rebel Sunni sheikh's HQ after two-day battle
Lebanon declares day of mourning for 16 troops killed in two-day battle with sheikh's forces
Lebanese troops have seized control of the headquarters of a radical Sunni sheikh whose supporters battled the army for two days and killed 16 soldiers.
Yesterday was designated a day of national mourning in Lebanon, as the search continued for Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, who was not found when troops entered the complex in Abra, near the southern city of Sidon.
The fighting, linked to sectarian tensions fanned by the war in neighbouring Syria, erupted on Sunday on the outskirts of Sidon and intensified on Monday.
A military source in Sidon said the army found "dozens of bodies of armed men, wearing military fatigues with their weapons lying nearby". Troops said it was unsafe to remove some of them for fear of booby-traps. The army "has arrested dozens of people suspected of loyalty to Assir", the source added.
Ambulances took 94 wounded to hospital in the space of 24 hours, Red Cross operations chief Georges Kettani said.
Weapons, including rocket launchers and machineguns, lay abandoned with military uniforms in the headquarters. Some flats in the complex were still burning as troops entered.
The area suffered heavy damage in two days of fighting that broke out after Assir's supporters attacked a checkpoint.