SIDON, Lebanon — Being in the midst of explosions and gunshots is more than normal to a war correspondent, but experiencing the danger with my wife and two children, both under 8, was something I had never thought about until we got trapped between two attacks on the Lebanese army in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, while on our way from our weekend venue in south Lebanon to our flat in Beirut. The worst was that while on the run, a third attack, a brief one with few bullets shot at the army, took place only a few hundred meters from where we were stuck in a crazy traffic jam.

Lebanese army troops closed the main highway that connects South Lebanon to Beirut after a gunman threw a grenade at a busy checkpoint, injuring two soldiers. According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers started shooting at the bushes surrounding the army post and killed the assailant, who according to Al-Monitor’s security source is a member of a radical group. But this wasn’t all.

As the fatal exchange of fire between the troops and the attacker ended, another attack took place in the Majdelyoun neighborhood, northeast of the city. A group of three men drove to an army checkpoint and when the soldiers tried to stop them, one of the men, who according to Al-Monitor’s security source was wearing an explosive belt, detonated himself, killing an army sergeant. Other soldiers at the same checkpoint directly opened fire at the remaining two men, killing them on the spot; one of the two reportedly had an explosive belt around him. The source confirmed that “at least one of the assailants is linked to Mouin Abu Daher,” a suicide bomber from the city who took part in the attack on the Iranian Embassy a month ago that left 24 people dead. The source added, “There is a serious link between both men; they were together with (Ahmad) Assir.” Both men were supporters of Salafi cleric Sheikh Ahmad Assir, who disappeared six months ago after days of bloody clashes with the Lebanese army. Assir was pro-Syrian revolution and anti-Hezbollah, and was one of the first Salafist clerics in Lebanon to call openly for jihad in Syria; there were pictures of him in Syria that appear to document an alleged trip by him to Qusair.

What Al-Monitor's security source indicated is that at least two suicide bombers were at large in Sidon and that they were only discovered by chance: “We have information that there are at least five cells still in the city; they are planning to launch suicide attacks, and yesterday might have been a possible attempt to cover the movement of one of the cells, but they failed.” The army took rapid measures in the city’s alleys to prevent any repercussions,” he said, adding, "One of the fears was that they might be aiming at the Shiite mosque in Sidon, or one of the churches.”