BEIRUT – Fighting between rival sects in Lebanon’s second city killed two people including a 10-year-old girl on Thursday, March 13, security and medical sources said, in violence stoked by the war in neighboring Syria.

Clashes between Sunni and members of the Shi’a-derived Alawite sect in the northern city of Tripoli broke out after gunmen shot a man, who later died of his wounds. At least 14 people were wounded in the ensuing clashes, including two soldiers and one gendarme after Lebanon’s security services sent reinforcements in to restore order.

A 10-year-old girl was also killed by sniper fire as residents in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen areas exchanged fire, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

The long-standing rivalry between Tripoli’s militants has been worsened by sectarian tensions in Syria.

The periodic clashes in the coastal city have been fought with increasingly sophisticated weaponry. Some combatants now use rocket-propelled grenade launchers as well as lighter weapons like assault rifles.

Last month gunmen shot dead a military commander, causing clashes that killed at least one more person.