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Clashes reportedly continued on Monday with gunshots heard in the northern city of Tripoli
Lebanon's army has urged the country's political leaders to show caution when expressing their opinions, in a bid to calm "unprecedented" tensions.
It comes after clashes broke out in several areas, following the killing of a senior security official on Friday.
The worst clashes were in Tripoli in the north, where at least three people died as gunmen exchanged fire.
Soldiers have been deployed in the capital Beirut, where there have been sporadic clashes.
In a statement, the army said the last few hours "have proven without a doubt that the country is going through a decisive and critical time and the level of tension in some regions is rising to unprecedented levels".
It urged "all political leaders to be cautious when expressing their stances and opinions" and in attempting to mobilise public action "because the fate of the nation is at stake".
The statement also called on "citizens of all affiliations... to exercise the highest degree of national responsibility in these difficult circumstances, and not to let emotions control the situation".
The BBC's Wyre Davies in Beirut says the army is a widely respected institution in Lebanon that has often been required to stand between the country's diverse political and religious factions.
After days of heightened tension, the statement can only be taken as a warning against further unrest, he says.
Children killedThe clashes come after the funeral of Gen Wissam al-Hassan - a Sunni and the head of the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces - who was killed in a car bomb on Friday, along with his bodyguard and at least one other person.
Opposition figures have blamed the attack on the Syrian government, as Gen Hassan was an outspoken critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shia-based Alawite sect.
Mr Hassan also had close links to the opposition 14 March alliance and the family of its leader, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Opposition figures have called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati - a Sunni - to resign, saying he has failed to protect the country from violence perpetrated by Syria.
Mr Mikati's offer to resign on Saturday was rejected by President Michel Suleiman, who said it was in the national interest for him to stay on.
On Sunday, thousands of people attended Gen Hassan's state funeral in Beirut, which became a political rally against both Mr Mikati and Syria.
A group of angry protesters broke away from the funeral, held at the Rafik Hariri mosque, and attempted to storm the prime minister's office. Police fired into the air and used tear gas to break up the crowds.
Overnight, protesters set up road blocks in the capital. Exchanges of gunfire were reported in the city overnight and on Monday morning in Tariq al-Jadida, a Sunni area neighbouring a Shia district.
- Head of the intelligence branch of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces
- Sunni Muslim born in the northern city of Tripoli in 1965
- Responsible for the security of former PM Rafik Hariri
- Viewed as being close to the Hariris and the opposition 14 March coalition
- Responsible for the August arrest of pro-Syrian politician and ex-information minister Michel Samaha
The army launched a major security operation in the morning, sending troops backed by armoured personnel carriers on to the streets to restore calm and re-open roads.
Serious clashes were reported in Tripoli on Sunday evening, where two children were among at least three people killed.
Dozens of people have set up camp outside Mr Mikati's office building, calling for his cabinet - dominated by the pro-Syrian Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah and its allies - to stand down.
But Nicholas Nahas, Lebanon's minister for Economy and Trade and a member of Mr Mikati's party, said that would help to keep Lebanon out of the Syrian conflict.
He told the BBC that no-one in Lebanon would benefit from allowing the Syrian violence to spill over, and that he believed the latest unrest would be over soon.
Meanwhile, the US has said it will help the Lebanese government with its investigation into the bombing.
Mr Hassan had led an investigation into the 2005 assassination of Mr Hariri's father, Rafik - for which four Hezbollah members have been indicted by a UN-led tribunal - and had recently organised the arrest of Michel Samaha, a former minister accused of planning a Syrian-sponsored bombing campaign in Lebanon.
Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in the wake of Rafik Hariri's murder, ending a 29-year military presence.
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