Deadly shooting rocks Beirut as tensions over port blast probe erupt

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DEVELOPING: Armed clashes during a protest against the lead judge probing last year’s massive port blast have left 5 people dead and 16 more injured, Lebanon’s interior minister says.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said many of the casualties were shot by snipers from buildings.The exchanges of fire involving snipers, pistols, Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades were a serious escalation of tension over the domestic probe, and the worst armed clashes since 2008, when the Shiite Hezbollah briefly overran parts of Beirut.

Gunfire echoed in the capital for several hours and ambulances, sirens wailing, rushed to pick up casualties. Snipers shot from buildings. Bullets penetrated apartment windows in the area. Four projectiles fell near a private French school, Freres of Furn el Chebbak, causing panic, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

In a statement, Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed for calm and urged people “not to be dragged into civil strife.” Bitar, the second judge to lead the complicated investigation, has come up against formidable opposition from Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group and its allies who accuse him of singling out politicians for questioning, most of them allied with Hezbollah.

 

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