Beirut - At least three persons were killed and 30 others
wounded in clashes that raged Sunday in the northern Lebanese city of
Tripoli between the country's Hezbollah-led opposition and partisans
for the ruling majority.
Hospital sources in northern Lebanon said the three people were
killed by sniper fire, and a police source said most of the wounded
were also victims of sniper fire directed from rooftop nests in
neighbourhood of Baal Mohsen, a pro-opposition stronghold.
The clashes started two hours after unidentified assailants in
Baal Mohsen hurled hand grenades into neighbouring Bab al-Tebana, a
predominantly Sunni Muslim district backing Saad Hariri's Mustaqbal
Movement, which is part of the Western-backed majority.
Mortars, rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers and automatic
rifles were used in the confrontation, police reported.
Tabbaneh residents said the thuds of exploding RPGs and mortar
rounds echoed across the city accompanied by machine gunfire, and
ambulances evacuated victims to Tripoli's hospital as scores of
families in Tabbaneh fled their apartments.
Mortar rounds and RPGs scored hits in residential apartments,
setting some ablaze.
Security remained fragile as the army threatened to withdraw from
areas where clashes still occurred, witnesses said. However, they
said later that the situation had calmed down after the army formed a
dividing line between the conflicting parties.
The clashes came as Prime Minister Fouad Seniora intensified his
efforts to form a national unity government in the wake of a long-
running political standoff.
Similar clashes have been taking place across Lebanon for the
past two weeks between supporters the opposition and the majority,
despite the May 21 agreement made in Doha, Qatar that Lebanon's rival
parties would stop using the streets to settle their differences.
Lebanon was on the brink of civil war before the deal was sealed
and Michel Suleiman elected as president.
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