Alawite-Sunni fighting erupts in Lebanon's Tripoli; combatants using rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles.
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three people were killed when fighting erupted overnight in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between members of the Alawite minority loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and members of the Sunni majority, witnesses and security officials said.
Rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles were used in the fighting in an Alawite enclave and surrounding Sunni neighborhoods in the port city, 70 km north of Beirut.
clashes peaked at dawn. The sound of gunfire is still echoing in the city," a Lebanese security official said.
The Lebanese state news agency said a soldier hit by sniper fire was among those killed.
A statement from the army said two soldiers were also wounded and reinforcements were being sent to the city and that troops were "pursuing armed men to return the situation to normality."
Troops had deployed in an area separating the Alawite enclave from the rest of the city.
A Reuters correspondent in the city said sporadic fighting was also taking place between groups of armed Sunnis and the army near a main Sunni district, adding most of Tripoli's main intersections were blocked by burnt tires.
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