2 explosions kill 12 in north Lebanese city

[August 23, 2013]  BEIRUT (AP) -- Lebanon's official news agency says at least 12 people have been killed by twin explosions outside two Sunni mosques in a northern city.

The National News Agency said another 25 were wounded in the Friday blasts.

The explosions in Tripoli come amid rising tensions in Lebanon resulting from Syria's civil war, which has sharply polarized the country along sectarian lines and between supporters and opponents of the regime of President Bashar Assad. Tripoli has previously seen clashes between Sunnis and Alawites, a Shiite offshoot sect to which Assad belongs.

Local media showed a column of thick, gray smoke rising over the city.

[Associated Press; By ZEINA KARAM]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.