SUMMARY

The conflict between the Forces of Michel Aoun) and the Lebanese Forces took place in the midst of the final stages of a civil unrest that had tormented Lebanon since 1975. The mostly Maronite Lebanese Forces and the Lebanese Army (Aoun) were both engaged in conflict with the Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Hoss. In February 1989, clashes broke out between the parts of the LF that were loyal to General Michel Awn (a.k.a. Aoun) and those loyal to Samir Geagea. Claims have been made that what triggered the clashes was a brawl over queue jumping at the Faraya ski slopes. This incident escalated and almost a week later clashes broke out. The clashes lasted for approximately one week.

Roughly a year later, in late January 1990, clashes erupted again. This time Aoun, who rejected the Ta’if Agreement, signed in October 1989, declared the closure of all Geagea’s Lebanese Forces barracks in East Beirut. This triggered an armed conflict between the two groups.

The conflict between Aoun’s Lebanese Army (Aoun) and the Lebanese Forces and was very intensive. In just a few months more than 700 people were killed. The violence was mostly located in areas in East Beirut. The intra-Maronite fighting severely damaged Aoun’s support amongst Christians in Lebanon and in October 1990 the Hoss government, backed by Syria, was able to crush the Lebanese Army (Aoun). Aoun himself fled to the French embassy and surrendered unconditionally.

The non-state conflict between the Forces of Michel Aoun is first included in UCDP data in 1989. In January and February of that year violent clashes between the two groups resulted in over 25 battle-related deaths.