At least seven people were killed and 33 were injured in renewed clashes between the contested districts of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in the northern port city of Tripoli on Friday. Voice of Lebanon (VDL) radio station reported the clashes prompted the Lebanese army to close the Tripoli-Akkar highway to prevent citizens from being exposed to sniper fire. Later in the day gunmen began using Rocket-propelled grenades.
One rocket hit an apartment building near the vegetable market setting it ablaze. Another hit a mosque in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh.
The fatalities were two women, a child and four men, according to a police report.
Media reports said that snipers were also targeting neighborhoods far from the contested areas, adding that sniper fire has reached Zahrieh, Mallouleh and the highway leading to Syria.
Sheikh Bilal Baroudi, Imam of Tripoli's as-Salam Mosque, was quoted as saying by Naharnet "the immediate challenge is to accommodate refugees from Bab al-Tabbaneh. Public schools are full and we are holding contacts with privately-owned schools to accommodate refugees."
Fourteen people have been killed and more than 100 wounded since June in clashes between the two neighborhoods.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
