Residents cut off Tripoli-Akkar highway

The state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday that a group of residents cut off Tripoli-Akkar highway.

The move came in protest against the failure of the lebanese state to pay compensations for damages incured during incidents between Bab Tebanneh and Jabal Mohsen.

The port city of Tripoli has long been a stronghold of Sunni Islamists in northern Lebanon.

But the city has become increasingly volatile in recent months due to the civil war in neighboring Syria, where the Sunni majority is leading a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

Clashes erupted in Tripoli on Sunday the 19th of May between pro-Syrian regime supporters in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and pro-revolution fighters in the Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh leaving at least 35 persons killed, including 3 LAF members, and more than 300 others wounded.

Violence between the two areas stretches back to decades, but the recent round of fighting was the heaviest.

On Sunday the 26th of May, clashes eased significantly, while sporadic gunshots were still heard occasionally as Lebanese Armed Forces deployed in al-Kobbeh and Rifa regions, and headed towards Syria Street.