Lebanese Civil War 1983 -1984

 

1975-1976 Tel el Zaatar 1976 1977-1981 1982 1983-1984 1985-1987 1988-1990 13 Oct 1990

 

The Syrians destroy the town of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon.

Tripoli had become a second Beirut.

The fighting between the Sunnites of Tripoli and the Syrians started at the beginning of December.

The Syrians formed a militia loyal to them, the Arab Democratic Party, whose general secretary was Nassib Khatib

 

The Baal Mohsen quarter was held by the Syrians and their allies while the Bab Tebbanne quarter was controlled by the anti-Syrian Lebanese militia.

 

Tension was at its peak in Tripoli. A shell storm hit the city making 20 deaths and several wounded. The combats opposed the Popular Resistance to the Arab Strike Force.
 

January 11, 1983 Bombs fell on Hadeth and Baabda. For the first time since the Israeli invasion in June 1982 and since the Multinational Force arrived in Beirut, the guns came closer to the capital as bombs fell on the suburbs of Hadeth, Baabda, Kfarchima and Bsaba killing 2 and injuring 9.

January 28, 1983 39 persons were killed and tens of others were wounded following a car bomb explosion parked in front of the 'Fateh' headquarters in Chtaura.

March 4, 1983 A Lebanese Army convoy was attacked near Baalbeck. 6 militaries were killed and 13 injured. The assailants were pro-Iranians fighters.
 

March 16, 1983 14 American Marines and Italian bersaglieri were wounded by three attacks perpetrated in less than 12 hours. Washington and Rome declared however that the Multinational Force would continue its mission. The Lebanese Army launched a clean up operation in the Southern suburbs
 

April 18, 1983 A murderous attack was perpetrated against the United States embassy in Beirut. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack executed using a small truck loaded with explosives driven by a Kamikaze.

 

American body guard  

The embassy's building was totally devastated, resulting in the death of 61 persons including 17 Americans. Two hours after the attack, President Gemayel arrived at the scene in order to supervise the rescue operations.

 

June 14, 1983 While the bombardments took a dangerous turn in the mountain as they reached residential areas, the Chamber of Deputies approved the ratification of the Mai 17 agreement with 62 votes against 2 and 4 abstentions.

June 20, 1983 Lebanon lost one of its major poets. Nadia Tueni left behind her pages of pure beauty, eternal words, an immortal poetry, a Lebanon on fire, a tearful family, and inconsolable friends.

June 27, 1983 Violent combats were raging in the region of Mansouriet-Bhamdoun between the Lebanese Forces and the PSP militia. The bombs reached the Northern Metn.

July 21, 1983 The President of the A.U.B, David Dodge who was kidnapped on the 19th of July 1982, was released. The White House expressed its gratitude to Syria.

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August 28, 1983 Beirut witnessed four days of madness and bombardments during which the Army lost control of the situation in a matter of one day, in favor of the militiamen.

September 1, 1983, During the month of September, atrocious massacres were perpetrated against Christian and Druze civilians in the Chouf.
 

Taking the Lebanese authorities by surprise, the Israeli Army began its withdrawal from the Chouf and Aley leaving face to face the militia of the PSP and the LF in a merciless battle.

The combats raged mainly around Bhamdoun, Souk El Gharb and Kabr Chmoun. A dramatic situation unfolded in the mountain where thousands of people were forced out of their homes. 30 000 people found temporary shelter in Deir El Kamar. The rehousing of the displaced persons caused a complicated problem for the officials.

 

The militia after the defeat of the village Bhamdoun on September '83

September 18, 1983 Emir Magid Arslane died at the age of 79. Hero of the independence, deputy since 1931, and several times minister, Emir Magid became very early a true national leader, a perfect incarnation of the generation of men who have shaped the coexistence aspect of Lebanon.

September 19 1983, US warships began shelling Druze, Syrian and Palestinian positions in the Chouf  Mountains outside Beirut. The battleship New Jersey with its 2,700 pound shells ("flying Volkswagens") participated in the action.

 

September 22, 1983 It was the turn of the French to react. The super-standards bombarded the artillery positions in Dhour Choueir while a bomb shower fell on Greater Beirut.

French troops in downtown Beirut

 

October 7, 1983 A first exchange of hostages between the LF and the P.S.P was possible under the aegis of the four-party military commission. Furthermore, the commission succeeded in assuring the entry of a Red Cross convoy in Deir El Kamar where 25,000 refugees had found shelter.

October 12, 1983 Political confusion, frequent violations of the cease-fire, alarming threats were as many elements that favored monetary speculation in Beirut. The dollar registered a spectacular increase against the Lebanese pound reaching 515 L.P.

October 18, 1983 Violent artillery duels were taking place on the axis Aley-Souk El Gharb-Dahr El Wahch and in the Iqlim. The situation became uncontrollable.

 

On October 23, 1983, the US marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon was blown up by a suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with explosives. 241 Marines died.

 

US Marines After Bombing of Beirut Base,

US marine barracks

The Marines closed the road infront of the US marine barracks

 

US Marines After Bombing of Beirut Base, 1983

Twenty seconds after the barracks bombing and four miles away another bomb exploded in a building housing French Multi-National Force paratroopers. 58 soldiers were killed. 

October 24, 1983 The French President Mitterand made a quick visit to Beirut and declared: ' We will stay'

November 4, 1983 A car bomb exploded next to the Israeli headquarters in Tyr causing 29 deaths and 29 injured. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for this killing attempt.
 

November 6, 1983 The situation was dramatic in Tripoli. Inter-Palestinian fights claimed 500 deaths and 875 injured.

November 17, 1983 The French aviation hit pro-Iranian bases in Baalbeck.

November 24, 1983 Six Israeli prisoners were exchanged against 4600 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners.

December 4, 1983 The Syrian anti-air defense shut down two American airplanes and a pilot was captured. The positions of the Marines at the Beirut International Airport were bombarded. Eight Marines were killed. The American President was angry: 'We will retaliate if we are attacked again'.

 

December 5, 1983 150 kilos of hexogen exploded at Tarik Jdideh spreading terror, killing 16 persons and injuring 100.

December 14, 1983 The American battleship New Jersey entered into action and launched 11 bombs of 1500 kilos each against Syrian positions in Dahr El Baydar.

December 15, 1983 2500 Lebanese Forces fighters were evacuated from Deir El Kamar.

December 20, 1983 Yasser Arafat and 4300 Palestinians left Tripoli aboard Greek ships.

December 21, 1983 A truck bomb attack against the frigate post of the French contingent of the Multinational Force in Berjaoui killed one paratrooper and injured 16 others. Another 16 persons were killed and 84 were injured among the Lebanese civilians.

December 28, 1983 After three days marked by violent combats in the capital, the Army announced that it was controlling the camps of Sabra and Chatila.


 

January 9, 1984 An anti-French killing attempt at the Résidence des Pins killed a paratrooper and wounded two others. Attacks against US and French troops of the Multinational Force continued until their departure in March.


January 12, 1984 One person was killed and many others were wounded in Achrafieh in a blind bombardment of residential areas. These bombings continued until July 4, causing thousands of deaths and injuries. Meanwhile, the dollar broke a new record in Beirut, reaching 5.55 LP.

January 16, 1984 Saad Haddad, commander of the Army of Free Lebanon, died from a generalized cancer. He was 47 years old and was buried in his birthplace, Marjeyoun.

In early February the Lebanese Army attempted to move into West Beirut against Druze and Muslim militia forces supported by Syria. Intense fighting broke out and lasted for weeks.

February 6, 1984 In a matter of hours, Amal & PSP took control over West Beirut. The capital was heavily bombed, while the Army gave up the control of the Western sector of the Capital to Amal and to the Islamic militias.

February 8, 1984 The ' New Jersey ', the most powerful battleship in the world from the 6 US fleet, bombed for several hours anti-governmental positions in the mountain.

 

February 14, 1984 Amal and PSP met in Khaldeh, while only Souk El Gharb was still controlled by the Army in the mountain.

February 15, 1984 Mechref and Damour fell under the control of the PSP, while violent combats raged around Souk El Gharb, the last obstacle in the mountain.
 

At the end of February 1984 U.S., French, and Italian peacekeeping troops had departed West Beirut.

March 22, 1984 The PSP, backed up by Amal, forced the Mourabitun out of Beirut.

April 4, 1984 The retired General Antoine Lahd took his functions as head of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) created and financed by Israel. This new militia replaced Saad Haddad's Army of Free Lebanon.


 

 

May 5, 1984 A new round of murderous violence killed 22 persons and wounded 107 others. The bombardments reached the Baabda Palace, forcing the organizers of a peace walk to express national dissatisfaction, to cancel the event.
 

June 11, 1984 This is one of the most violent days since 1976. No words are enough to describe the ongoing butchery. 90 persons lost their lives and 353 were wounded on this single day.

 

August 21, 1984 It was almost hell in Tripoli, as combats continued between the Islamic Unification Movement and the Arab Democratic Party. 54 deaths and 150 injuries were reported during the 48 hours of fight.

 

Kidnappings of American and European citizens living in Lebanon filled the following months.

William Buckley, the CIA's Beirut station chief who was kidnapped in 1984 and said to have died after prolonged torture, reportedly was secretly spirited through Syria by Iranian gunmen and delivered to Iran for interrogation.  Buckley was flown by from Damascus to Tehran after his abduction. Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, Terry Waite who disappeared January 20, 1986, while on a negotiating mission to free the other kidnap victims and many more other hostages...

August 29, 1984 Pierre Gemayel, head of the Phalange Party and Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and Health died from a heart attack. An official three-day mourning was announced, as well as a general one-day closure.

September 20, 1984 A car bomb exploded next to the US embassy in Aoukar. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack that caused 11 dead and 96 injured. In Sohmor in the West of the Bekaa, the Army of South Lebanon opened fire on a crowd gathered on the place of the village, killing 24 persons and injuring 96.

October 9, 1984 Walid Joumblatt announced in Beirut the birth of a new coalition, the 'National Democratic Front', grouping, besides the PSP, the Communist Party, the Baas, the Syrian Nationalist Party, and the Arab Socialist Union.

November 25, 1984 The Army took control of Beirut, where 6000 soldiers deployed in the capital but without really controlling the situation.

Lebanese forces started shelling Druze, and Syrian positions in the Chouf  Mountains after the attack of Syrians to control Behamdoun

 

Fierce battles took place between the Lebanese Forces and the Syrian Army attacking with heavy tanks and thousands of special forces in Behamdoun

Bhamdoun captured by the Syrians

 

 

1975-1976 Tel el Zaatar 1976 1977-1981 1982 1983-1984 1985-1987 1988-1990 13 Oct 1990

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