Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Rivals and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad have
been engaged in bloody battles in Lebanon.

At least 15 people were killed and more than 50 were injured in fighting
between the Alawite community and Sunnis in the northern Lebanese city of
Tripoli on June 3.

The two sides employed rocket-propelled grenades and
machine gun fire in overnight urban battles.

“Shelling across both [Alawite and Sunni] areas were heard every five
minutes and snipers targeting civilians,” the official Lebanese National News Agency said.

Officials said Lebanese Army troops were deployed around Tripoli to stop the fighting. They said the military and Internal Security Forces were ordered to shoot militia fighters in an effort to halt two days of intensive gun battles.

“We will use an iron fist,” Prime Minister Najib Miqati said.

The focus of the Alawite-Sunni fighting took place in Tripoli’s Baba
Tabaneh and Jebel Mohsen neighborhoods. Officials said foreign gunmen were involved in the battles.

“I stress that we will return any gunfire, wherever it may come from,
because the country cannot bear further security incidents,” Brig. Gen.
Bassam Al Ayoubi, ISF commander in Tripoli, said. “We will not be tolerant
with anybody.”

Tripoli contains thousands of Syrians who fled the Sunni revolt against
Assad. Some of them were believed to have sought to direct arms, funds and
fighters to Syria.

Al Ayoubi denied reports that the Free Syrian Army participated in the
battle in Tripoli. But the brigadier suggested that foreign forces were
recruited by both sides.

“Stability has been restored in the aforementioned neighborhoods as Army
units continue to reinforce their security measures, including the pursuit
of gunmen and the identification of any gunfire source, in order to take the
appropriate measures immediately,” the Lebanese Army Command said.

  Alawite, Bashar Assad, Lebanese city of Tripoli, Lebanon Internal Security Forces, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Sunni militias clash, Sunni revolt in Syria, Syrian power struggle breaks out in Lebanon as Alawite