Tripoli fighting rages for fourth straight day

January 5, 1983

A fierce artillery and mortar battle between rival militia groups continued in the northern port of Tripoli Tuesday, leaving much of Lebanon's second-largest city burning and without water on the fourth straight day of fighting. State-run Beirut radio said former Prime Minister Rashid Karami, a Tripoli leader with close ties to Syria, drove to Damascus, seeking help to end the fighting between pro- and anti-Syrian guerrillas that has left at least 47 dead and 70 wounded.