Missile hit near convoy of ex-Lebanon PM Hariri, report says

A missile exploded earlier this month near the convoy of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri while he visited a mountainous area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, a TV station reported on Sunday.

Hariri’s office in a statement said most of the report carried by Al-Hadath TV station was “generally correct.” The blast reportedly occurred some 500 meters away from Hariri’s motorcade on June 17. Hariri was returning from a visit to the top in the Bekaa Valley, days after sectarian tensions and rare clashes in Beirut sparked by Lebanon’s ongoing economic and financial crisis, the worst in decades.

Hariri, himself a Sunni Muslim, had resigned in late October

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Hariri was returning from a visit to the top in the Bekaa valley, days after sectarian tensions and rare clashes in Beirut sparked by Lebanon’s ongoing economic and financial crisis, the worst in decades.

following nationwide protests against the country’s ruling elite, who demonstrators blame for decades of corruption and mismanagement.

Al-Hadath TV reported that the explosion occurred as Hariri’s convoy of some 30 vehicles was returning to Beirut after the meeting with Sheikh Khalil Al-Mais in the eastern village of Makseh. The report said security forces searched the area and found the remains of a missile. It added that an investigation was underway to determine whether the missile was fired from a drone or from the ground, as well as to determine the type of missile. Three Lebanese security and military officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the incident from The Associated Press.