A grenade blast in an area of the northern city of Tripoli early Thursday has injured one person, , a security official said. The same restive northern Lebanese city has seen bloody clashes between two rival factions. The grenade was thrown in the Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tebbaneh region where some 23 people were killed in June and July in battles between Sunni Muslim supporters of the government and their Damascus-backed rivals from the Alawite community in Tripoli.
Tensions between the two communities had eased in the past few weeks after both sides signed a reconciliation accord and the army had deployed heavily. But concern that the situation could escalate again mounted this week after a car bomb targeting the army on Monday left seven people dead, four of them soldiers, and nearly 30 people injured. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.