Unknown assailants tossed a grenade near an army checkpoint in the northern city of Tripoli, without causing casualties, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The attack in the early hours of Wednesday took place in the area of al-Mankoubine in Beddawi, it said.

Hizbullah was surprised on Sunday that March 14 "has not yet abandoned its alliance" with the Syrian armed opposition, declaring that anyone who incited against the army is a partner in the crimes by "Takfiri gangs" against it.

"The Lebanese army is being exposed to open aggression by Takfiri gangs, which are not just passing separate attacks, its an external decision to continuously attack the army," said the Deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, in a memorial service celebration in the town of Dwair.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi announced his support to the barter in the issue of the kidnapped soldiers, rejecting on the other hand to “push” the army into the Syrian war through coordination with the Syrian army.

Rifi said in talks to al-Liwaa newspaper that the release of the abducted soldiers is a priority to the parliament, and he is with barter to free them.

A Lebanese soldier was killed at dawn Friday when assailants opened fire on a bus transporting troops on the Bireh road in the northern Akkar district, the army and the state-run National News Agency said.

The dead soldier was identified as Jamal Jean al-Hashem, who hails from the town of Qobayyat.

One person was injured on Thursday in a shootout during an army raid to arrest a suspect for killing an army soldier in al-Beddawi in Tripoli.

The army said in an official statement on Thursday night that two men “riding a motorcycle fired at a position for the army in al-Akoumi area, and the army members fired back.”

Hizbullah announced on Thursday that those firing at the army in Tripoli are “allies" of al-Mustaqbal movement and “close to it.”

It called to refer them to the judiciary for "punishment."

Forces loyal to a former Libyan general leading an offensive against Islamist militia launched a new push Wednesday to try to recapture the second city of Benghazi, witnesses said.

Gunfire and explosions were heard in the flashpoint eastern city, according to an Agence France Presse correspondent, after ex-general Khalifa Haftar announced that he was ready to "liberate" Benghazi.

The spokesman of the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades on Monday urged Islamist militants in the northern city of Tripoli against “falling into the trap” of fighting the Lebanese army, asking them to instead focus their efforts on confronting Hizbullah.

“The entire army is a malleable tool in the hand of the party (Hizbullah), with which the Sunnis are being killed and arrested,” AAB spokesman Sirajeddine Zureiqat, who is a fugitive Lebanese cleric, said on Twitter.

The Army Intelligence referred on Monday two Syrians to the concerned judiciary for their belonging to terrorist groups.

The army announced that Ahmed Atef Jinyat, a member of the Monzer al-Hasan group, was referred to the concerned judiciary for providing the organization with explosives that were going to be used in terrorist attacks.

Contacts intensified recently to persuade Muslim and Christian prominent figures in the northern port city of Tripoli to attend a conference set to highlight civil peace in the area.

The Mufti of Tripoli and the North, Sheikh Malek al-Shaar, revealed in comments published in As Safir newspaper on Monday that the conference that will be held under the slogan “The National Tripoli Gathering” will issue a “civil peace charter.”