The Syrian conflict on the streets of Lebanon

The Syrian conflict on the streets of Lebanon

The sprawling housing estate of Bab al-Tebbeneh north of Tripoli sits cheek-by-jowl alongside the Jabal Mohsen estate. They are neighbours but their allegiances are worlds apart.

To get to the street that split the two communities we have to dart in and out of side streets and alleyways, workshops and backrooms. We sprint through the gaps between the high rise apartment blocks, lest the snipers pick us off. Even the dogs run faster here, sensing the fear.

At times the gunfire is deafening as the residents let off a few rounds to let the guys sitting in the opposite estate know that they're still there. Snipers reply, sometimes inadvertently hitting the minarets of one of the estates' many mosques.

Inner city estates all over the world have gangs that fight against other estates, but rarely with RPGs and AK-47s, and rarely in the name of another country's conflict.

The flag of the Syrian opposition hangs outside some homes in Bab al-Tebbeneh. Residents here are vehemently against President Assad's regime and against Hezbollah, which support his regime. Their neighbours are Assad loyalists. The sight of a banner hung on Thursday night that read "Slaughterer" next to a picture of Assad provoked an angry response in Jabal Mohsen. It didn't take much for that anger to turn to violence.

Women and children look down from their balconies, too scared to come out onto the streets. One apartment above our heads bears the scars of the overnight violence. Two large holes mark where RPGs slammed through the wall at 6am that morning. The family sleeping inside escaped unharmed.

The Lebanese army try to intervene, after asking some of Tebbeneh's gunmen to allow them into the estate. You begin to wonder who is in charge.

Efforts to stop the clashes result in six injured soldiers. Two civilians are killed and over twenty injured.

A Jabal Mohsen MP blames the clashes on the anti Syrian regime faction - they couldn't defend Homs so they were attacking those who sympathised with Assad. There are certainly many residents who have family and friends in that besieged city. And a week of intense bombardments there is having an impact eighty kilometres west in this Lebanese city.

But the violence here won't help overthrow a regime, nor will it persuade the international community to intervene. It merely serves to remind us that Syria sits slap-bang in the middle of a very volatile region and the threat of the conflict spilling into neighbouring countries is all too real.