TRIPOLI (Agencies)
Two people were killed and 32 wounded in overnight clashes between rival sectarian camps in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, a security official told AFP on Wednesday.
Fighting intensified on Wednesday morning after erupting late on Tuesday in the Bab al-Tebbaneh district where dozens of residents were fleeing their homes, an AFP correspondent said.
Explosions and machinegun fire rocked the city from midnight as Sunni Muslim supporters of the government and Alawite gunmen close to the Shiite Hezbollah-led opposition battled on the outskirts of the mainly Sunni Muslim port.
The fighting began after four grenades were fired at a street separating the Sunni Bab Tibbaneh district and Alawite Jabal Mohsen district, scenes of deadly clashes last month.
Tripoli is dominated by the country's anti-Syrian Sunni-led majority coalition while a majority of Alawites maintain close ties to Syria, which is ruled by an Alawite.
Lebanon ended an 18-month political crisis in May with the Western-backed coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition reaching a Qatari-mediated accord. The conflict had led to a violent showdown between the two sides in Beirut.
Delays in the formation of a national unity government, as stipulated in May's accord, have raised fears of a further deterioration in the security situation. |
