At least one person was killed and six injured on Saturday in a powerful blast that shook a six-storey residential building in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, said a security official.
”One man died in the blast and six were wounded, most of them women and children,” the official said as rescuers evacuated victims from the site of the explosion that took place at 2.30am GMT in the Sunni neighbourhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh.
Panicked residents, some of them still in their pyjamas, could be seen fleeing the area that has been the scene of fierce sectarian clashes.
One woman wept as she searched for her daughter.
The first floor with four apartments was destroyed by the blast along with several stores located on the ground floor. Cars parked nearby were also damaged.
Army troops and police reinforcements could be seen deploying in the area. Armed militants were also on the streets.
Residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh who support the Western-backed majority in Parliament have clashed repeatedly with Alawites in the nearby Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood who are loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition, which is backed by Syria and Iran.
Alawites are a secretive off-shoot of Shi’ite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
Nine people were killed and about 45 injured in clashes between the two sides last Sunday and Monday.
Two men were also wounded, one of them critically, in a grenade blast on Friday.
An army spokesperson said one of the men had his leg torn off by the blast, which may have been accidental.
”Based on our initial investigation, the man who lost his leg was probably holding the grenade when it fell and exploded,” said the spokesperson.
The clashes in Tripoli have raised fears of a nationwide security breakdown amid stalled efforts by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to form a national unity government following a Qatari-brokered deal in May to end an 18-month political crisis.
The accord between the opposition and ruling coalition led to the election of army chief Michel Sleiman as president, ending a six-month vacuum in the top job.
But the initial euphoria that greeted Sleiman’s election has been replaced by a growing sense of foreboding as rival factions continue to bicker over the distribution of key portfolios in the new 30-member government.
The Doha accord calls for the opposition to have veto power over key decisions in the unity Cabinet and the drafting of a new electoral law ahead of legislative elections due next year.
The accord was struck after at least 65 people died in May in sectarian clashes that saw Hezbollah stage a spectacular takeover of mainly Sunni areas of west Beirut.
The violence sparked fears that Lebanon, which suffered a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, was heading toward a new full-blown conflict. – AFP
