BEIRUT: Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr charged 37 people Thursday, including Salafist Sheikh Ahmad Assir and his two sons, over the recent clashes between Assir’s gunmen and the Lebanese Army in the Sidon suburb of Abra. Among those charged were 10 people still at large, including Assir, Lebanese pop singer turned Islamist Fadl Shaker and his brother Abdel-Rahman Shaker, a judicial source told The Daily Star.

The source said three Syrians and a Palestinian were also charged. At least 18 soldiers and 28 gunmen were killed in the fighting that took place in June between Assir’s fighters and the Army. Saqr accused the suspects with “forming an armed ring with the aim of carrying out crime against people and their property, undermining state authority and harming the state prestige.” [DailyStar]