1984 Sohmor massacre

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1984 Sohmor massacre
Part of 1982 Lebanon war
Location Sohmor, Beqaa, Lebanon
Coordinates 33°31′7″N35°41′8″E / 33.51861°N 35.68556°E / 33.51861; 35.68556
Date20 September 1984 (UTC+03:00)
Attack type
 Mass murder
Deaths13
Injured20-40
PerpetratorsFormer Flag of the Lebanese Army.svg South Lebanon Army
Israel.svg Israel Defense Forces (support) [1]
No. of participants
300+
MotiveRevenge, Islamophobia
Convicted15

The 1984 Sohmor massacre, also known as the first Sohmor massacre, took place on 20 September 1984 when Druze members of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army, opened fire at a group of Shia civilians, killing 13 civilians in the Lebanese village of Sohmor. [2]

Contents

Background

Sohmor is a Shia Muslim village in Western Beqaa. The South Lebanon Army, led by Antoine Lahad consisted mainly of Christian and Druze militiamen trained and armed by Israel. [3] [4] [5]

Attack

Previously, 3-4 Druze militia were killed and 5 were wounded in an ambush within Sohmor. While the IDF encircled the village, the SLA gathered 300 men, aged 16 to 39 years, in the main square to investigate the recent ambush. Once there, the SLA militia began to shoot at the villagers and throw grenades at them. While screaming "this is for what you did to the patrol last night". [1] [6] [7] The killing went on for 15 to 30 minutes, killed were 13 and 20-40 were wounded. [8] [9] [10]

Some wounded villagers were taken to Israel for treatment. [1]

Aftermath

Lebanese Information Minister Joseph Skaff called the attack part of a "series of massacres perpetrated by Israel or encouraged by it and carried out under its direct coverage and with its full support". [3] IDF officials blamed the massacre on the SLA. [9]

Israel had wanted to use the 1500 strong SLA to take over security duties in Southern Lebanon, but the massacre raised doubts amongst Israeli leader ship that the SLA could be molded into a professional military as Israel had hoped. [1]

The IDF detained 15 SLA militiamen they believed had taken part in the massacre and courtmartialed them. [1] [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Pippert, Wesley G. (21 September 1984). "The massacre of 13 Shiite Moslems by Israeli-backed militiamen..." United Press International . Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Tveit, Odd Karsten (2010) Goodbye Lebanon. Israel's First Defeat. Rimal Publication. Translated by Peter Scott-Hansen. ISBN   978-9963-715-03-9 p.103
  3. 1 2 "Lebanon Blames Israelis in Slaying of Shiites". The New York Times . Reuters. 1984-09-23. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  4. ↑ Le Monde Diplomatique, 1984, France, French (in French).
  5. ↑ Central Intelligence Agency (1984-10-17). ISRAEL: PREPARING WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS. Emma Best.
  6. ↑ Fisk, Robert (2001). Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War. Oxford University Press. p. 571. ISBN   978-0-19-280130-2.
  7. ↑ Daher, Aurélie (2019-07-15). Hezbollah: Mobilization and Power. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-049589-3.
  8. ↑ "Situation in the OT/LAS report - CHR - SecGen report". Question of Palestine. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  9. 1 2 3 Ap (1984-09-22). "15 LEBANESEDRUSE HELD IN REVENGE KILLINGS". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  10. ↑ lebanons02 (2014-09-15). "the SLA opens fire on civilians in Sohmor killing 13". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2025-06-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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