At least 10 people were killed and 35 others injured Saturday in a gunfight between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime in Tripoli, the main city in northern Lebanon. Sporadic gun battles broke out at midnight and rockets were fired, forcing families to flee their homes, security sources said, adding that the clashes continued intermittently.
The clashes pitted residents of Bab el-Tebbaneh, mostly Sunni and hostile to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and those of Jabal Mohsen, who sympathize with the Alawite regime.
A woman and her son were killed by a rocket fired on Bab el-Tebbaneh, the source said.
At least five people were injured in Jabal Mohsen.
The Lebanese army, already present in the area, was ready for further deployment in Jabal Mohsen and Bab el- Tebbaneh.
Tripoli has already been shaken in mid-May with a week of clashes between pro-and anti-Assad groups, which saw 10 fatalities.
The army intervened on May 15 taking control of the streets, which separate the two neighborhoods, before deploying within the neighborhoods.
The revolt in Syria heightens tensions in Lebanon, which experienced 30 years of Syrian hegemony and remains deeply divided between supporters and opponents of Assad. After the first violence in Tripoli in mid-May, the incidents have spread into Beirut, where two people were killed on May 21.
