A bomb blast in the busy commercial district of Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, has claimed at least 18 lives, including a number of soldiers.

A bus carrying military personnel was the target of a roadside device. Dozens more people were hurt.
The Syrian President Michael Suleiman described it as a terrorist attack.

The off duty soldiers were being driven down one of the busiest streets in the town when the bomb exploded outside a branch of the Bank of Beirut.

Tripoli has been the scene of increased sectarian fighting in recent months between Sunni Muslims and Alawite fighters in which more than 25 people have died.

This latest attack comes one day after a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies backing Lebanon’s new unity government.

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