In Tripoli, One Street Brings the Syrian War Home

2 minute read

The battle lines of Syria are reflected in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. In the north of city, the Sunni neighborhood of Bab el Tebbaneh faces the Alawite community of Jabal Mohsen. The two areas are divided by Syria Street which is often criss-crossed by bullets and bombs.

The Sunnis support their Syrian co-religionists who are rebelling against the regime of President Bashar Assad in Damascus while the Alawites support the President who is also Alawite.

Many residents of both areas have gone to fight in Syria while those that remain are also drawn into violence. Since March 2011, almost 200 from both sides of Syria St have been killed in bombings and shootings. In the most recent major incident, nine people were killed and more than 30 wounded on Jan. 10 in a Jabal Mohsen café when two suicide bombers blew themselves up.

The two communities have been in conflict for centuries in the Levant. The Ottoman Empire persecuted the Alawites in the 19th century while Alawites have been ascendant in the 20th, first as allies of the French rulers of Syria and Lebanon and secondly when Hafez Assad took power in Syria in 1966.

The communities were not separated until the Lebanese Civil War (1976-1990). The Alawites of Jabal Mohsen, the raised area of the city, sided with Syria, while the Sunnis of Bab el Tebbaneh on the plain stood with Sunni Islamists groups. To this day Saudi Arabia is believed to finance Bab el-Tebbaneh, while Syria and Iran are seen as the backers of Jabal Mohsen.

The communities are among the poorest in Lebanon yet rather than provide common ground, this makes them more vulnerable to outside manipulation. Both communities are neglected by Beirut and suffer poor public services and rising unemployment. The militias are often the only employment for young men.

These photos show both communities getting on with their lives amid the chaos of past conflict, with the knowledge that it probably won’t be long until it is once again time to take cover.

Stefano de Luigi is a Milan-based photographer represented by VII Photo.

Conal Urquhart is a senior editor at TIME. He is based in London.

Lebanese army took control of the streets in Tripoli in December 2013 for the will of the lebanese Prime Minister , Tamam Salam. Since then there were deadly clashes with salafist fighters on the end October 2014. The fighting caused major damage to the impoverished Sunni district of Bab al-Tebbaneh. A patrol of the army control the streets in Bab-al-Tebbaneh.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
The Lebanese army took control of the streets in Tripoli in December 2013. Since then, there have been deadly clashes with Salafist fighters. The fighting has caused major damage to the impoverished Sunni district of Bab al-Tebbaneh. Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite enclave in Tripoli, general view of the buildings close to the border with the sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh. Conditions of life are very hard for the people living in there.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite enclave in Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Um Mustapha, 27 living in an house close to the gate of the souk in the Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh hardly shelled last October by the Lebanese ArmyTripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Um Mustapha, 27, lives in an house close to the gate of the souk in the Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Adel cleaning what remains of his supermarket destroyed during the hard shelling of Bab al-Tabbaneh ,sunni neighborhood, by the Lebanese Army, last October 2014.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Adel cleans what remains of his supermarket destroyed during the shelling of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite enclave in Tripoli, general view of the buildings close to the border with the sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh. Conditions of life are very hard fo the people living in there.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite enclave in Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Children labor is widespread in the city of TripoliTripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Child labor is widespread in the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
A general view of the neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and the Sunni cemetery of the neighborhood of Bab al-TabbanehTripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
A general view of the neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and the Sunni cemetery of the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Students attending an informatic lesson at the elementary school Dar al-Salam, in the sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh hardly shelled last October by the Lebanese Army. On the wall the holes made during the last bombing.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Students attending a lesson at the elementary school Dar al-Salam, in the sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Street view in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh near Syria Street, theater in the last years of bloody clashes between Sunnis and Alawites.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Street view in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh near Syria Street, theater of bloody clashes between Sunnis and Alawites. Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
A young boy smoking his shisha in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
A young boy smoking his shisha in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
The gate of the souk in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, hardly shelled last October by the Lebanese ArmyTripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
The gate of the souk in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Alia Khadour 62 on the balcony of her home in the alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen. Her appartement is placed just in front of the sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and has been hardly beaten by snipers during the last clashes between communities in the beginning of 2014.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Alia Khadour, 62, on the balcony of her home in the Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen. Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Abdallah Mohammed 25 showing his wound made during the hard shelling of Bab al-Tabbaneh ,sunni neighborhood, by the Lebanese Army, last October 2014.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Abdallah Mohammed, 25, shows the wound he sustained during the shelling of Bab al-Tabbaneh, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Ahmad 33 show the last born of his friend Ahmad (30 on the bottom) father of six, in sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Ahmad, 33, shows his friend's baby in sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
On 23 August 2013 two mosques were bombed in Tripoli, Lebanon. 47 were killed and five hundred injured in what has been called the "biggest and deadliest" bombing in Tripoli since the end of Lebanon's civil war. This is what remains of a blasted car, it has become a monument in memory of the victims. It was built in front of the Mosque Al-Taqwa.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
On Aug. 23, 2013, two mosques were bombed in Tripoli, Lebanon, killing 47 people and injuring 500 in what has been called the "biggest and deadliest" bombing in Tripoli since the end of Lebanon's civil war. This is what remains of a blasted car, which has become a monument in memory of the victims. It was built in front of the Mosque Al-Taqwa, Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Sheikh Salem Rifai religious leader of the salafist mosque Al-Taqwa in Tripoli.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Sheikh Salem Rifai, the religious leader of the salafist mosque Al-Taqwa in Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Some 1.13 million Syrians have registered as refugees with the UN in Lebanon, but report says officials put the figure much higher.Lebanon has all but closed its borders to refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war, wednsday 22 th of October 2014. A woman lying in the middle of sheets left to dry in the syrian refugee camp of Minieh 2, in Minieh the outskirt of Tripoli.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
More than 1.13 million Syrians have registered as refugees with the UN in Lebanon, but reports put the figure much higher.Lebanon has all but closed its borders to refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war. Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Some 1.13 million Syrians have registered as refugees with the UN in Lebanon, but report says officials put the figure much higher.Lebanon has all but closed its borders to refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war,Saturday 29th of November 2014. An old man living in the informal camp of syrian refugees Minieh 1 in Minieh suburb of Tripoli.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
An old man living in the informal camp of Syrian refugees Minieh 1 in the suburb of Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Some 1.13 million Syrians have registered as refugees with the UN in Lebanon, but report says officials put the figure much higher.Lebanon has all but closed its borders to refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war, wednsday 22 th of October 2014. A father with his son in an informal refugee camp in Enfe the southest outskirt of Tripoli.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
A father with his son in the informal refugee camp in Enfe, a suburb of Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo
Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite enclave in Tripoli, general view of the buildings close to the border with the sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh. Conditions of life are very hard for the people living in there.Tripoli Lebanon November/December 2014
Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite enclave in Tripoli, Lebanon, Nov. and Dec. 2014.Stefano de Luigi—VII Photo

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