BEIRUT: Clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian regime gunmen early Saturday killed one man and wounded five other people in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, according to security and medical officials.
Sporadic gun and rocket fire broke out at midnight and continued through the night, forcing some residents of the port city to flee their homes, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The man, killed in the neighourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh, belonged to the district's mainly Sunni community, who support the opposition seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
The five others were injured in Jabal Mohsen, mainly populated by pro-Damascus Alawites.
Sectarian violence has flared on a number of occasions in the city since the revolt broke out in neighbouring Syria in March last year.
And fighting is not uncommon between the two neighbourhoods, which saw street battles in May.
It reflects a deep split between Lebanon's political parties where the opposition backs those leading the revolt in Syria while a ruling coalition led by the powerful Shiite Hezbollah supports Assad's regime.