Sectarian clashes broke out Friday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing six people, including a 10 year-old-boy and a policeman, and wounding at least 15, police officials said. The clashes between Sunni Muslim gunmen and Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect, broke out at dawn after a hand grenade was thrown toward a Sunni area, the state-run National News Agency reported.Tension has been high along Lebanon's religious and political fault lines since the militant Shiite group Hezbollah overran parts of Beirut in May in response to government attempts to limit its power.
The deal that ended that crisis saw Hezbollah and other opposition politicians re-enter the government of the Western-backed prime minister, Fuad Saniora, with veto power over its decisions.
Friday's clashes occurred as the government was struggling to draft a document outlining plans for its term in office amid disagreements with Hezbollah.
The fighting escalated as automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were used between the Sunni Bab el-Tabaneh district and the predominantly Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhood, the police officials said. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
A cease-fire went into effect at 1 p.m. after mediation by the grand mufti of north Lebanon, Sheik Malek al-Shaar, who has acted as a mediator throughout the recent weeks of fighting.
But after a brief lull fighting broke out again, said residents of the city, located 50 miles north of Beirut. The police officials said three more people died in the afternoon fighting, including a policeman and two women. A 10-year-old boy struck by a stray bullet also died later Friday, bringing the total to six people killed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross urged those fighting to stop and allow the wounded to be evacuated and medical personnel to carry out their tasks.