The Lebanese army revealed, on Thursday, that a truck carrying ammunition overturned on a public road in the town of Kahaleh in Mount Lebanon, and when it overturned, a problem arose between the truck’s escorts and the people, which led to the death of two people.
An army force came to the scene and worked to contain the problem, and “the truckload was transferred to a military center, and an investigation began under the supervision of the competent judiciary,” according to the Lebanese army statement.
At dawn on Thursday, a force from the Lebanese army lifted the truck and opened the road in both directions, while it continues to monitor the situation and take appropriate security measures, according to the statement.
On Thursday morning, specialized security and judicial services came to the scene of the incident in the town of Al-Kahala, where they began scanning it and documenting evidence, marking the start of investigations into the incident, according to the Al-Hurra correspondent in Lebanon.
The forensic doctor examined the bodies of the two dead people who were killed in the armed clash, and it was found that the dead body of the dead man, a resident of Kahaleh, had been hit by more than one bullet.
Al-Kahala.. Hezbollah recognizes the “truck” and blames “militants”
Security sources said that two people were killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire between members of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and residents of a Christian town after a truck belonging to the armed group overturned.
Security sources told Reuters that two people were killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire between members of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and residents of a Christian town after a truck belonging to the armed group overturned.
The sources said that a member of the Iranian-backed group and a resident of the town were killed in the clash, which took place approximately 12 kilometers southeast of Beirut, and the two sides exchanged accusations of sparking the bloody clash, according to Reuters.
This is the most serious confrontation between Hezbollah and its Lebanese opponents since the bloody clashes that took place in Beirut nearly two years ago, which threatens to exacerbate sectarian tension at a time when Lebanon is suffering from deep political and economic crises.
Local MPs from the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party opposed to Hezbollah, accused the group of transporting weapons in the truck.
Hezbollah confession
Hezbollah said the truck belonged to it and accused “militias” in the area of attacking its crew, saying that one of the men “protecting the truck” was wounded and later died.
He added in a statement that an exchange of fire took place with the “aggressive gunmen”, but the party did not mention the load of the truck.
The local office of the Lebanese Forces party accused “militants” who were escorting the truck of shooting at civilians, killing a man the sources said was a Christian resident of Kahala named Fadi al-Bajjani (64 years old).
His son Youssef recognized him and told Reuters that the two tried to approach the truck after it overturned.
He told Reuters, “We were about a meter away, but we couldn’t see what was in the truck. There were at least three (at least) people who were bowing (shooting) at it – two with machine guns, one with a man. Bey (my father) fell on the ground and I couldn’t reach him.” And when I arrived three minutes later, he was dead and not breathing.”
The truck had overturned on a slope near Kahaleh on the main road between the Syrian capital, Damascus, and Beirut, and residents quickly closed the road around it.
The bells of St. Anthony’s Church in Kahala rang out of grief after the news of Fadi Al-Bajjani’s death spread.
Protesters blocked the road and prevented cars from passing, demanding that the truck’s load be disclosed and that the shooters be handed over, according to Agence France-Presse.
Nazih Matta, a representative of the Lebanese Forces from the region, accused Hezbollah of transporting weapons to Beirut on board the truck, and said in televised statements, “A person from Al-Kahala was killed… This is categorically unacceptable.”
Abdo Abu Khalil, an official in Kahaleh, said residents planned to block the road around the overturned truck.
The Lebanese Al-Jadeed and MTV channels broadcast footage of men in civilian clothes shooting in the street.
The two channels later showed footage of Lebanese army forces deployed around the truck at nightfall as a crane removed wooden crates from it.
The truck’s contents were not visible, but large groups of residents still gathered around it.
Witnesses said that the Lebanese army unloaded the overturned truck without allowing anyone to approach, then tried to move it from the place, but changed that after the anger of the people, who insisted on closing the road and shouted anti-Hezbollah slogans, according to what was reported by “Agence France Presse”.
The caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, spoke with the army commander, General Joseph Aoun, and called for “calm and wisdom” pending the authorities’ official investigation.
Hezbollah is the most powerful group in Lebanon, and it was founded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in 1982, and it fought several conflicts with Israel and deployed its fighters to support the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, according to “Reuters”.
Its arsenal has long been a bone of contention in Lebanon, where opponents of the group accuse it of undermining the state.
Two years ago, at least seven people were killed in clashes following a rally organized by Hezbollah and its Shiite ally, the Amal Movement, against a judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion.
The commander of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, denied at the time the allegations of the two parties that gunmen loyal to his party had targeted them with sniper fire.
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2023-08-10 07:23:41
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