Jabal Mohsen residents shot in the leg in Tripoli

Unknown assailants shot on Wednesday two persons from al-Omran family in the northern city of Tripoli, injuring them in the leg, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The victims, who hail from Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen, were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

The security forces rushed to the scene and opened an investigation into the incident.

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.

Disputes from neighboring Syria's civil war frequently inflame sectarian grievances in Tripoli. These clashes pit gunmen from both the mostly Sunni Bab Tabbaneh district and the Jabal Mohsen district which mostly comprises residents of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, a Shiite Islam offshoot.