Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri on Thursday warned against the “conspiracy” targeting the northern city of Tripoli, considering that the battles aim at diverting the attention from Hizbullah's participation in the Syrian war alongside President Bashar Assad's forces.

“The ongoing killing in Tripoli aims at providing a cover for the war of Hizbullah and the Syrian regime against (Syria's border town of) al-Qusayr,” Hariri said in a released statement.

Rania sits on a blanket in the street, clutching her three children a day after they fled deadly fighting in the flashpoint Tripoli district of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

"It's our children who pay the price," she says, bouncing her wide-eyed toddler Ahmed on her lap.

Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil slammed on Thursday the distribution of electoral districts in the hybrid draft law proposed by the March 14 coalition, calling it a “second Mountain War.”

"The proposal submitted by the Lebanese Forces and al-Mustaqbal blocs is a political Mountain War if we examine the divisions of the electoral districts they suggested,” Bassil stated in a press conference he held at his residence in al-Metn's Rabieh's neighborhood.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Thursday the need for the army to respond firmly to all security violations that are targeting the northern city of Tripoli.

He said: “There is a conspiracy to force the army out of Tripoli and leave the city as a battlefield.”

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora contacted on Thursday a number of Shiite religious and political figures as part of efforts to put an end to Hizbullah's “dangerous” fighting in Syria.

He stressed the need to end the party's involvement “through all possible means.”

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly praised on Thursday the Lebanese army and the Internal Security Forces in working with political leaders to maintain peace and stability at this difficult time.

She expressed after holding talks with caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel the U.S. government’s concern over the current outbreak of violence in Tripoli, conveying her regrets over the deaths in Tripoli.

Abu Faruq, a kiosk owner in an upscale Beirut district, does not hide his opinion about the influx of Syrian refugees: "Lebanon is occupied by foreigners," he grumbled. "They're ruining us."

As the conflict in neighboring Syria stretches into a third year, a wave of refugees has flooded Lebanon, stretching its economy and testing its resources as well the nerves of its citizens.

Seventy-five fighters from Hizbullah have been killed in Syria since late last year, a source close to the group said on Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a higher death toll, saying 104 Hizbullah members had been killed in Syria since last autumn, but a Hizbullah spokesman denied the figures.

Acting Internal Security Forces chief Brigadier General Roger Salem stressed on Thursday that the security forces will bolster their presence in the northern city of Tripoli in order to contain the clashes and tensions in the area.

He said: “The gunmen are not being granted political cover and they are acting independently.”

At least nine people were killed on Thursday in ongoing clashes between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, as different caliber mortars in addition to flare bombs were introduced to the battle for the first time.

The fighting intensified as the night fell on the city after intermittent clashes throughout the day, amid several futile attempts to reach a ceasefire.