A young man was killed in Beirut overnight on Tuesday in a Sunni turf war linked to leadership rivalries in a community marginalised by the loss of political power over the past decade.
The Lebanese military said machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the fighting. Army units “took security measures to control the situation,” an official statement said.
The killing in the mostly Sunni Tariq El Jdideh district resulted from a clash between a clan loyal to former prime minister Saad Hariri and another supporting his brother Bahaa, two residents told The National.
Both Saad and Bahaa issued statements in Twitter condemning the violence in Tariq El Jdideh.
The clash occurred between members of the Palestinian Shishniyeh clan and the Krombis, a Lebanese family originally from Arsal in the Bekaa Valley.
Both were pro-Saad Hariri until the Krombis switched sides to Bahaa Hariri three months ago, one of the residents said.
A Shishniyeh street gang attacked a Krombi gang late on Monday in retaliation for the stabbing of Alaa Shishniyeh, one of their own, two days ago. Taha Krombi was killed in the attack and two other people were wounded, the residents said.
Video footage purporting to show the violence also appeared on social media.
“The Shishniyehs felt they had to retaliate after Alaa was stabbed. It required 160 stitches to save him,” one of the witnesses, who declined to be named, said.
“The incident started as personal but the political background helped escalate it,” he said.
Tariq El Jdideh, a working class neighbourhood, is a barometer of popular Sunni sentiment in Lebanon.
The district is adjacent to the Palestinian Sabra and Shatila refugee camps and is near Hezbollah strongholds in the south of Beirut.
In 2018, the district was scene to fighting between Hezbollah gunmen who overran most of Beirut and Tariq El Jdideh’s Sunni residents, after the cabinet moved to ban a private telecoms network operated by Hezbollah.
The fighting in and around Beirut, and in north Lebanon in May that year killed 37 people. Since then several skirmishes occurred between Hezbollah supporters and armed Sunnis in Tariq El Jdideh.
A peaceful protest movement against the entire political class forced Mr Hariri to resign as prime minister in October, as the economy started to melt down.
Fault lines among Lebanon’s Sunni community emerged after the 2005 assassination in Beirut of statesman Rafik Al Hariri, the father of Saad and his elder brother Bahaa.
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Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
