The war in Syria is dragging neighboring Lebanon to the edge of the abyss, and nowhere is the growing chaos more stark than in the second city of Tripoli. Sunni militants aligned with the Syrian rebels frequently clash with fighters from the city’s encircled Alawite minority—who support the Assad regime—in bitter street fighting that the country’s weak government seems powerless to stop.

With rule of law no longer in effect in Tripoli, warlords like Sunni commander Ziad Allouki are now the city’s de facto rulers. VICE News hung out with him and his fighters for a week to discover why they’re fighting, and whether the country really is on the brink of civil war.