Riflemen attack Shiite protesters on the former front line of the civil war
Six people were killed and dozens injured in a shooting at Shiite supporters Hezbollah and Amal in Beirut in protest of the removal of a judge investigating a powerful explosion at the Lebanese capital’s port last year that killed more than 200 people.
The Lebanese army has announced the arrest of nine people, including a Syrian, Reuters reported.
Lebanese troops remain in the area to prevent further incidents.
Hezbollah and Amal said earlier that armed groups fired on the protesters from the roofs of buildings today, with the gunmen aiming at their heads. According to the two Shiite groups, the attack was aimed at provoking conflict in Lebanon. They called on the army to intervene quickly to detain the perpetrators and called on their supporters to remain calm.
Today’s violence was the most serious in Beirut in years. The shooting took place on a former front line since the country’s civil war between 1975 and 1990, the Associated Press reported.
The British Guardian recalled that such a demonstration of force was last made in May 2008, when Hezbollah conquered western Beirut after a brief conflict with Druze leader Walid Jamblatt.
In a televised address to the nation tonight, President Michel Aoun vowed to hold those responsible for today’s violence accountable, Reuters reported.
Friday will be a day of mourning in Lebanon in memory of the victims, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.
Hezbollah said the protesters were attacked by armed fighters of the Christian Lebanese forces. According to the Shiite movement, snipers fired at people from the roofs of buildings.
The violence in Beirut today brings to mind the civil war in Lebanon. It is “unacceptable at all levels,” former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, an opponent of Hezbollah, commented on Twitter.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on all Lebanese factions to end the violence and refrain from provocative actions and inciting rhetoric.
Today’s violence in the Lebanese capital coincided with a visit by US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Newland. The third person in the State Department hierarchy has promised additional US assistance to the Lebanese army of $ 67 million.
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