Lebanese officials say fighting between government supporters and
opponents in Lebanon's second-largest city has killed four people,
including a policeman.
Another 30 people were wounded Sunday in
the northern city of Tripoli as rival factions battled each other with
machine guns and rockets.
The battles involved Sunni Muslim
fighters who support the Lebanese government and Alawite militiamen
loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition.
The fighting began at
dawn and eased briefly when local leaders met in Tripoli and urged the
Lebanese army to take charge of the city. But, officials say the
battles resumed after sunset.
In another development, a bomb
blast in southern Lebanon seriously wounded a senior member of a
militant group linked to al-Qaida.
Officials say the bomb was
placed in a trash can in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh.
The blast wounded three people, including Imad Yassin, a leader of the
Islamist militant group Jund al-Sham.
Tensions between Lebanon's
rival factions have been growing in recent weeks as their political
leaders struggle to form a new Cabinet under the terms of an
Arab-brokered deal signed in May.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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Factional Fighting in Northern Lebanon Kills 4 People
update