Fresh clashes shake north Lebanon: Six killed: sporadic fire despite ceasefire

Bab al-Tebbaneh is a stronghold of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority while the inhabitants of Jabal Mohsen are mainly supporters of the Shia Hezbollah-led Opposition.

Political and religious leaders met in the morning to work out the details for a ceasefire and one was announced just after midday but it fell through.

Sunni MP Muhammad Abdel Latif Kabbara of the parliamentary ruling majority said a new ceasefire would go into effect at 6:00 pm and that the army would take action against anyone violating the truce.

“The army has sent reinforcements to the battle zones to secure the ceasefire and the army command has promised us to firmly respond to any violation of the ceasefire,” Kabbara said.

Shopkeepers in the area kept their stores shut on Friday because of the violence and people fled their homes near the front lines, the AFP correspondent said.

Families who stayed behind took cover inside shops and underground garages as hundreds of gunmen took to the streets in full sight of the army which stood by without intervening, the correspondent added.

Earlier an army spokesman told AFP that soldiers “cannot intervene and use force because the neighbourhoods are densely populated.”