Clashes between pro-Assad and anti-Assad forces in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli have left at least 16 dead since Sunday. The casualties include both combatants and non-combatants:

Security sources identified Abed Sankari and Fawzi Hawshar as the latest fatalities from the overnight fighting, raising the death toll from the daily violence that began Sunday to 16. Among the dead are two Lebanese soldiers who were killed Monday. A total of 192 people – including 42 soldiers – have been wounded so far. The overnight clashes between supporters of President Bashar Assad in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and backers of the Syrian uprising in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh saw heavy use of a variety of weapons once again.

Hezbollah’s open fighting on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime has been blasted for dragging Lebanon into the Syrian conflict. President Barack Obama this week called on Lebanese President Michel Sleiman to reign in the Iran-backed terror group. Protests against Hezbollah’s involvement erupted in Lebanon again this week:

Unlike similar demonstrations that broke out at Martyrs Square in the earlier stages of the Syrian uprising, there was no counter-protest from supporters of Assad and Hezbollah. “They’re probably busy fighting in Syria,” quipped Abdallah Haddad, a financial consultant who told NOW he had showed up to protest what he saw as Hezbollah’s dragging Lebanon into the conflict next door.

“We’ve come here to condemn Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria and in Damascus, but especially in Qusayr,” said Taher, a Lebanese demonstrator who preferred not to disclose his surname. “We would like our prime minister and president to take a clear stance against this intervention,” he told NOW.

Nonetheless, Hezbollah appears to be firmly in control of Lebanon, both militarily and politically. The group is currently blocking efforts to form a new cabinet.

[Photo: EmiratesBreakingNews / YouTube]