BEIRUT: Renewed clashes broke out in Tripoli , Lebanon Tuesday, leaving two dead and at least seven wounded, despite calls for calm and intense Army efforts.

Security sources told The Daily Star that Mohamad Ibrahim and Abboud Nassouh were killed by sniper fire in the Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen during clashes with fighters from the largely-Sunni neighborhood of Baba al-Tebbaneh.

The sources said that the Lebanese Army gave the fighters from both sides a deadline of 6 p.m. to withdraw from the streets, threatening to return fire whatever its source.

The Army also cut off the all roads leading from the Mallouleh roundabout in Tripoli and tightened security measures in the region.

Repeated clashes have erupted in the northern city since the beginning of the unrest in Syria in March 2011. Concerns rose over the weekend that the situation in Tripoli could spiral out of control once again after several Lebanese fighters were killed by regime fire in Syria.

The incident heightened tensions in Lebanon, already sharply divided over the bloody conflict in Syria and raised fears of the turmoil next door spilling over into Lebanon.