Bomb kills at least 9 in Lebanon

A bomb targeted a bus in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli today, killing at least nine people, including seven soldiers when it exploded in a busy square, security sources said.

The bomb, placed in front of a garage door, exploded near a passenger bus that was also carrying Lebanese soldiers.

Masarif Street is in a commercial district and the bomb went off near a bus pickup point.

Tripoli has been the scene of sectarian fighting which killed 23 people last month in battles between militants from the rival Sunni Muslim and Alawite communities in the neighborhoods of Bab al Tibbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

Bab al Tebbaneh is a stronghold of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority while the inhabitants of Jabal Mohsen mainly support the Syrian-backed opposition led by Hizbollah.

Tensions between the two communities date back to Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. Alawites are an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The explosion comes a day after the Lebanese cabinet led by prime minister Fuad Siniora gained a parliamentary vote of confidence after five days of speeches and debates over the government’s policy statement.

The Lebanese president Michel Sleiman is set to hold a summit with the Syrian president Bashar al Assad today.