As a truce is established between the warring Alawite and Sunni neighbourhoods in Tripoli, tensions remain high. Tripoli has been gripped by violence over the past week, as Sunni Muslims and Alawite Muslims have been engaged in street battles, killing a dozen people and prompting the involvement of the Lebanese army. Lebanon’s clashes are believed to be related to Syria, where President Basher Al-Assad’s Alawite government has been fighting armed Syrians and other non-Syrian militant groups. The tensions are running so high that the Lebanese army has stepped up its presence in the city with the deployment of tanks and anti-air cannons aimed directly at buildings.
Lebanese security forces take position in a tank in the northern city of Tripoli following clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian regime supporters on 21 August
AFP PHOTO / Stringer
Lebanese army commandos stand on armoured personnel carriers in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli on 23 August
AFP PHOTO / SAM TARLING
Lebanese soldiers ride an armoured personal carrier equipped with an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli on 23 August
AFP PHOTO/SAM TARLING
A bullet-ridden taxi lies in an alley off Syria Street in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli on 23 August
AFP PHOTO / SAM TARLING
Lebanese army soldiers stand on armoured personnel carriers in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli on 23 August
AFP PHOTO / SAM TARLING
Lebanese army soldiers keep their position at Syria street in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli on 23 August
AFP PHOTO / SAM TARLING
A resident surveys the damage to buildings following clashes off Syria Street in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli on 23 August
AFP PHOTO / SAM TARLING
A Lebanese soldier mans an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted on an armoured personal carrier in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on 22 August
AFP PHOTO / Stringer
A Lebanese man looks at a hole on a building following a rocket propelled grenade hit in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on 22 August
AFP PHOTO / Stringer
Anti-Damascus regime supporters run in the street in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on 22 August
AFP PHOTO / Stringer
An anti-Damascus regime supporter expresses his anger over the death of a civilian, while his comrades rest from fighting, in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood of the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli on 22 August
AFP PHOTO / Stringer
