Several casualties reported amidst gun battles in Beirut following blast protest

Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Casualties have been reported after hours of gun battles in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, following calls led by Hezbollah and their allies to remove the judge leading the investigation into last year'sAt least six people have been killed and 30 wounded in ongoing clashes in the district of Tanouyeh after protesters gathered outside Beirut's Justice Palace, according to the Lebanese Red Cross, who have dispatched six teams to assist the wounded and transport them to local hospitals.

Videos circulating on social media have shown armed men clashing in the streets with assault rifles, crowds fleeing and children taking shelter in the city's schools. According to the Shiite group Hezbollah, peaceful protesters were targeted by sniper fire before the clashes broke out. The Lebanese Army has not responded to those claims.The Lebanese Army warned citizens to go home, saying that anyone armed on the streets would be shot.

"The deployed army units will shoot at any gunman on the roads and at anyone who shoots from anywhere else, and ask civilians to leave the streets," the army posted on its officialOver 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been stockpiled in the port of Beirut since 2013, detonated on Aug.

Earlier this week, a legal complaint brought against Judge Tarek Bitar was dismissed, allowing him to resume his work as the head of the investigation into the Beirut blast, which survivors and activists have criticized for a lack of movement. Hezbollah and its allies have claimed that the probe has been politically biased against Shiite ministers, and the politically contentious issue has threatened to derail the current caretaker government.

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