1 Dead, 6 Hurt in New Violation of Tripoli Ceasefire

One man was killed and six others wounded in the northern city of Tripoli on Sunday, as fresh clashes broke out between the rival neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, a security official said.

Three of the wounded were Lebanese soldiers who are deployed in the port city to quell tensions after fierce street battles first erupted last Monday, raising concerns that Syria-linked violence could destabilize the country.

"The army surrounded an armed group, who were entrenched in some of the houses and positioned on the roofs of some buildings," the source told Agence France Presse.

Clashes lasted for an hour, and the army later arrested 10 militiamen, he added.

Al-Jadeed television said “the army arrested 10 gunmen from al-Mouri family over the shooting in al-Zahriyeh in Tripoli.”

A ceasefire brokered by local officials was supposed to take effect Wednesday, but violence was reignited when a sniper killed a Sunni cleric on Friday, and at least 118 people have been wounded in the course of the week.

Sniper fire continued on Sunday, according to the security official, who said the man killed had been hit by a sniper in Jabal Mohsen. State-run National News Agency identified the victim as Adel Othman.

Despite patrols by the Lebanese army, "gunmen continue to ride around on motorbikes with their weapons out in the open. They avoid arrest by driving into crowded neighborhoods and narrow alleys where it is difficult for the army to pursue them," the source said.

The latest violence in Tripoli came on the heels of a spate of kidnappings in Lebanon linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The army is “cleansing the area” of the fighting and it will respond to any gunfire, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Sunday.

The gunfire did not thwart some of the residents of the rival neighborhoods from reopening their stores, revealed al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday.

The sources noted to An Nahar that the exhaustion of the fighters has led to the decrease in the intensity of the clashes.

Meanwhile, a sit-in was held on Sunday in front of the Tripoli municipality to protest the situation.

Head of the municipality Nader Ghazal told LBCI television: "We have reached the point of no return over the situation in the city."

"The various efforts to end the situation in Tripoli have always fallen short of their goals," he added.

“We will not end the sit-in until the situation is resolved,” he stressed.

A meeting was held on Saturday at MP Mohammed Kabbara’s residence in order to tackle the unrest.

He said after the meeting that contacts are ongoing with all concerned sides to that end, said al-Hayat.

The gatherers voiced their support for the security forces and army to restore calm in Tripoli.

One of the Bab al-Tabbaneh officials Sheikh Mazen Mohammed told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat Sunday that the fighters in the neighborhoods have withdrawn from the streets.