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8 killed, 21 wounded during intensified gun battles in Lebanon’s Tripoli

02 June 2012 20:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Eight people were killed and at least 21 others wounded Saturday in renewed clashes between the Sunni Bab el Tebbaneh and Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods in northern Lebanon’s port city of Tripoli, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

A security source revealed to Xinhua that among the wounded are women and children from Bab el Tebbaneh, who are being transferred to Tripoli’s hospitals, while the wounded from Jabal Mohsen neighborhood are being transferred to hospitals in the northern city of Zghorta.

Sporadic gun and rocket fire broke out at midnight Friday and continued through the night, forcing some residents of the port city to flee their homes.

The Lebanese Army deployed in the region is responding to fire from both sides, the sources said.

The National News Agency reported that Internal Security Forces Brig.Gen. Bassam Ayyoubi, who chaired a security meeting in the city, announced that police force would enter the conflict zone and work toward a cease-fire.

The NNA report said that early Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked security agencies to track down those behind the clashes in the city, which in early May was shaken by days of clashes between rival neighborhoods.