Faction fighting continues in northern Lebanon

Heavy fighting between pro- and anti-government supporters in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli raged for a second day Monday and officials said four more people died overnight.

By afternoon, Lebanese troops and policemen began deploying in the tense areas. Fighting eased by dawn although residents said sporadic explosions persisted.

The deaths brought to eight the number of those killed since violence broke out Sunday in this city, 50 miles north of the capital.

Forty-two people have been wounded in the fighting. Among the injured were a soldier and a civilian hit by sniper fire, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The latest clashes began overnight when Sunni Muslim government supporters from the Bab el-Tabaneh district and Alawite opposition supporters in neighboring Jabal Mohsen neighborhood exchanged machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades, officials said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.