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12 news for April 1981

‹ March 1981May 1981 ›

with the books
April 2, 1981thursday
The Lebanese will remember this date for long time. Violence brought back to Beirut the darkest experiences of 1975-1976. Blind bombardments targeted the Eastern and Western sectors of the capital. Thousands of students were trapped in their schools and the population panicked. There were heavy casualties: 50 persons died and more than 200 were wounded.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Historians date the battle of Zahleh from this day, when Lebanese Forces fighters beat off a Syrian attack on the town and a siege of some 90 days began. Ménargues says Syrian heavy guns killed 50 and wounded over 200 that day in Zahleh and the Christian zone north of Beirut.

April 4, 1981saturday
An intensive bombardment in Zahleh killed 20 and injured 100.

\_this day in full the books also date it 6 April 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues dates a day of intensive shelling of Zahleh, with about twenty dead, to 6 April.

April 7, 1981tuesday
The Arab Strike Force maintained it pressure on Zahleh by bombarding it for the seventh consecutive day.

\_this day in full the books also date it 31 March 1981 \_on this day

April 8, 1981wednesday
A shell storm fell on East Beirut particularly in Badaro, Ain El Remmaneh and Chyah. Several bombs hit H™tel-Dieu leaving important damages.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 9, 1981thursday
For the first time in Zahleh since the beginning of the confrontations, the Red Cross was able to evacuate 19 persons seriously injured.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 10, 1981friday
During his meeting in Strasbourg, the European Parliament called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, except for the UNIFL.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 10, 1981friday
Israel bombarded Delhamiye and Arab Salim killing 16 persons.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 12, 1981sunday
Following several days of violent confrontations with the Phalange militia, the Arab Strike Force completed its occupation of the most strategic hills of Zahleh. The supply channels between the capital of the Bekaa and Mount Lebanon were closed.

\_this day in full the books also date it 10 April 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues writes that Syrian special forces, landed by helicopter at dawn on 10 April, soon took the heights of Qalaat Aramta and Deir Charfé around Zahleh, leaving its defenders almost encircled.

April 20, 1981monday
The situation was worsening in Lebanon. Violence unleashed in the South where artillery duels and air raids on Nabatyeh and Saida killed 16 and injured 33. Sporadic bombardments shred the silence in Zahleh. East Beirut was violently shelled and bombings spread to Nahr El Kalb causing five deaths and 32 wounded.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 22, 1981wednesday
The nightmare continued. The Lebanese authorities were completely powerless to stop the violence and the conflicting parties were unable to reach an agreement. The Beirut International Airport was closed to traffic and both dead and wounded victims continued to shed their blood on this agonizing Lebanese land.

\_this day in full the books also date it 11 May 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

According to Ménargues, Bashir Gemayel answered the collapse of a cease-fire on 22 April, which left 140 dead or wounded in Beirut within hours, by having the international airport shelled. On 11 May US ambassador John Gunther Dean urged the Lebanese Forces, via Alfred Madi, to let it reopen; that evening they dropped their objection.

April 27, 1981monday
Residential areas in Beirut were the target of sporadic bombardments that killed six persons and injured 90 others.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 28, 1981tuesday
While the Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister, Abdel Halim Khaddam met with President Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel and members of the Islamic Union at the Baabda palace, Israeli airplanes bombed new positions occupied by the Syrian Army on Mount Sannine's peak. The Israeli forces shot down two Syrian helicopters.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues has two Syrian helicopters downed: a Mi-8 supply craft, hit by F-15s around noon just after leaving Rayak, and a French-built Alouette late in the day; in between, jets struck ADF positions around Sannine. Israel acted at Christian leaders' request once Syria held Sannine's summit; next day Syria answered with surface-to-air missiles in the Bekaa.