Lebanese authorities received on Sunday, December 9 the first three bodies from a group of 14 Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen killed in Syria, local clerics said, as fighting triggered by the men's death continued to shake the northern port town of Tripoli, Reuters reported.

Clashes with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades killed at least two people on Sunday, raising the total to over 14 dead in a week, and more than 140 wounded.

Tensions in northern Lebanon have run high since at least 14 Sunni Muslim Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen from the area were killed by Syrian security forces a week ago in a Syrian border town. The men appeared to have joined the armed insurgency against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Militants from northern Lebanon had long been suspected of entering neighboring Syria, but the killing of the gunmen sparked long simmering tensions.