Hizbullah Supporters, Opponents Exchange Blows Over Assassination Of Shi ite Lebanese Activist Lokman Slim
March 9, 2021
On February 4, 2021, Lebanese journalist and activist Lokman Slim, a vocal critic of Hizbullah, was found shot dead in his car in an area of South Lebanon known as a Hizbullah stronghold. Some in Lebanon accused Hizbullah of assassinating him in order to silence him and also as a warning to other Hizbullah opponents, especially the Shi ites among them. For example, Mustafa Aloush, deputy chair of the Al-Mustaqbal faction, claimed that the assassination was a message to the Shi ites so that none of them will consider crossing over to the opposition.
A pro-Al-Qaeda radical cleric and Telegram user published on March 8, 2021, a post commenting on reports claiming that Turkey has been recruiting Syrian fighters on behalf of Saudi Arabia to fight in Yemen in which he deemed the recruitment as "act of apostacy."