BEIRUT // Lebanese troops detonated booby traps at a complex captured from followers of a hardline Sunni cleric yesterday, securing the area after two days of fighting that left dozens dead in Sidon.
Soldiers who blocked off several office and residential buildings around the mosque where Ahmad Al Assir once preached told reporters they were clearing the complex of explosives.
The fate of Sheikh Al Assir, a maverick religious sheikh who controlled the complex for about two years, is unknown. His rapid rise in popularity among Sunnis underscored the deep frustration of many Lebanese who resent the influence Shiites have gained in government via the militant group Hizbollah.
Official reports said at least 17 soldiers were killed and 50 were wounded in the fighting while more than 20 of Mr Al Assir's supporters died in the battle, according to a security official.
The fighting, some of the worst involving Lebanese troops in years, was seen as a test of the weak government's ability to contain the furies unleashed by the civil war in Syria.
Despite the heavy death toll, the military appeared to have successfully put down the threat from Mr Al Assir and his armed supporters by late Monday.
The officials said troops raided several apartments around Sidon yesterday in search of Mr Al Assir's followers. Security was tight in hospitals where wounded militants were being treated, they said, with even relatives prevented from visiting.
"I was surprised. This was not a mosque. It was a security centre," said Marwan Charbel, the outgoing interior minister, after touring the Bilal bin Rabbah complex in Sidon, which had been occupied by Mr Al Assir's supporters.
He said there were foreigners among the detainees who had been fighting with Mr Al Assir.
The president of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, said that army command had been given the "political support" to retaliate against groups that threatened national security.
By midday, streets around Mr Al Assir's complex were packed with people who came to inspect their homes and shops, many of which were damaged during the fighting.
