The clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in Tripoli have claimed 28 lives so far. 

The violence is the deadliest to rock Lebanon for years. It has been marked by the use of rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machineguns.

More than 200 people have been wounded in six days of clashes in the port city.

Most of the fighting has been between residents of the Bab el-Tebbaneh district, who support the militants battling to topple President Assad, and people in the Jabal Mohsen area who back him.

Four people from Bab el-Tebbaneh were reported dead overnight,  and one was reported killed in the opposite camp.

Foreign-backed militants cross the Lebanese border to join the fight against the Syrian government.

The Syrian army is currently engaged in an intense battle to recapture the strategic town of al-Qusaryr which lies on the Lebanese border.