Shoot-out in north Lebanon city

Tripoli has seen frequent violence in recent months including bombings

One person has been killed and three have been hurt in a shoot-out between gunmen and troops in the north Lebanese city of Tripoli, security forces say.

The clash happened in the early hours of Friday, in the predominantly Sunni area of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

There have been frequent outbreaks of violence in Tripoli in recent months between rival Sunni and Shia gunmen.

The city has also been the scene of two recent bus bombings which killed 23 people, including several soldiers.

In October, the Lebanese security forces broke up an alleged cell of militants in Tripoli.

Some of the cell's members are alleged to have been members of the militant Sunni Islamist group, Fatah al-Islam, which staged an uprising in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp outside Tripoli in 2007.

Fifteen weeks of fierce fighting left more than 400 people dead, including 168 soldiers, and devastated the camp.