Lebanese TV aired images of men carrying rifles and heavy weaponry as the army reported “bursts of gunfire in Tayouneh–Badaro,” a few blocks from where protesters had gathered moments earlier to demand Judge Bitar’s removal.Lebanon authorities have said that gunfire killed at least six people and wounded 30 at a Beirut rally organised by Shia Hezbollah and Amal movements to demand the dismissal of the Beirut blast lead investigator.
The army deployed tanks and troops to quell street battles on Thursday that sparked memories of the 1975-1990 civil war for a city already traumatised by last year’s blast disaster and Lebanon’s worst-ever economic crisis.
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said the “exchange started with sniper fire, with the first casualty shot in the head”.
One man died of a gunshot to the head and a second of a shot to the chest, said Mariam Hassan of the Sahel Hospital in Beirut’s mainly Shia southern suburbs.
A 24-year-old woman was hit in the head by a stray bullet while inside her home, the doctor added.
The state-run National News Agency reported another death at the Rasoul al Azam hospital, also in the southern suburbs.
The Lebanese Red Cross reported 20 wounded.
Lebanese television broadcast images of men carrying rifles and heavy weaponry.
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