6 dead in Beirut after shootings break out during protests over blast investigation

6 dead in Beirut after shootings break out during protests over blast investigation
# 14 October 2021 17:10 (UTC +04:00)

Lebanon’s interior minister says six people have been killed in armed clashes in Beirut that erupted Thursday during protests against the lead investigator into last year’s massive blast at the city’s port, APA reports citing Global news.

Bassam Mawlawi told reporters Thursday that many of those injured were shot by snipers from buildings. He called the events, “a very dangerous sign.”

The protest was organized by the militant Shiite group Hezbollah and its ally, the Shiite Amal Movement. They both want the lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, removed from the port blast investigation.

The exchanges of fire involving snipers, pistols, Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades were a dangerous escalation of tensions over the domestic probe, and the worst armed clashes since 2008, when the Shiite Hezbollah briefly overran parts of Beirut.

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