On-again, off-again sectarian unrest came roaring back in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli over the weekend, with at least 12 people killed in clashes between Sunni and Alawite militias.
The Lebanese government has tried to mediate disputes and occasional dispatch troops, but seems to have given up on trying to handle it themselves, and are instead handing the city over outright to Tripoli.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who is from Tripoli, says that he and President Suleiman agreed that the situation could no longer continue, and that the Lebanese army will have full control over the city for the next six months.
Tripoli has long been a home of both Sunnis and Alawites, and it is spillover tensions from the ongoing civil war in Syria that has turned century-long neighbors against one-another.