War of Liberation -

Battle

Aoun announced a War of Liberation on March 14, 1989, the vast majority of the Christian population lived in East Beirut and the northeastern suburbs of Greater Beirut. These areas were surrounded by Syrian troops, which were based in West Beirut, Mount Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Northern Metn. Aoun’s declaration of war, which was followed by an official letter on March 27 calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops, resulted in a Syrian siege of this enclave, with daily, massive bombardments. The Lebanese Army, under Aoun’s command, carried out heavy artillery shelling of residential areas controlled by the Syrian Army, including densely populated West Beirut. Many civilians were killed by the bombings as well as from a lack of medicine and health care in East
Beirut. The bombardments between the Lebanese and Syrian armies left around 850 dead and another 3,000 wounded, most of whom were civilians. Around 500,000 people from all religious affiliations left Greater Beirut, and went toward South Lebanon, the Beqaa, and North Lebanon.