DAY OF MOURNING FOR SIX DEAD AS VIOLENCE RETURNS TO BEIRUT
▶ At least 32 wounded at protests led by the city’s Shiite factions ▶ Rooftop snipers and militiamen trade fire near sectarian flashpoint ▶ Violence sparked by calls to oust judge investigating 2020 port blast
Lebanon will observe a day of mourning on Friday for the six people killed during clashes in Beirut on Thursday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said.
Unknown assailants killed six people and injured at least 32 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, when gunfire broke out before a Hezbollah-led protest near the Palace of Justice.
Demonstrators were demanding the removal of the judge investigating last year’s port blast.
Protesters were fired on by rooftop snipers and gunmen on the streets of Tayouneh, a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood.
Tayouneh is on the border of Christian east Beirut and its streets were soon flooded with fighters from Hezbollah and its political ally Amal, armed with AK47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
At least one man was killed by a sniper who shot him in the head, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said.
“The first shots fired at the protesters were by snipers since they were aimed at the heads,” he said.
“This is a very dangerous sign. All the martyrs may be from one side and this might lead to possible reactions. I see it as an attack on the nation.”
A woman who was hit by a stray bullet while sheltering in her home is among the dead.
Gunfire echoed across the city throughout the afternoon, as Amal and Hezbollah fighters fired at rooftops.
In one video posted on social media, a man carrying an RPG appeared to be gunned down as he tried to cross the street to fire his weapon.
Clashes spilt over into the neighbourhoods of Badaro, Cheyah and Ain Al Remaneh – all former flashpoints in the country’s 15-year civil war.
Followers of the two Shiite groups said judge Tarek Bitar had politicised the investigation into the port explosion, targeting only Shiite figures – despite his summonsing of Sunni former interior minister Nohad Machnouk.
The groups had announced the joint demonstration to call for Mr Bitar to be replaced, after the judge issued an arrest warrant for former finance minister Ali Khalil, a prominent Shiite political figure.
Men, mostly dressed in black, burnt images of Mr Bitar in the streets, while a pick-up truck blasted chants calling the judge an “American traitor”
after he summoned for interrogation several politicians who are aligned with the group.
“Sure they may be corrupt, but I am sure they have nothing to do with the Beirut blast,” Ihab Hamie, 32, told The National as he waved a banner condemning Mr Bitar.
Amal and Hezbollah accused the Christian party and former militia Lebanese Forces of carrying out the attacks.
On Thursday evening the Lebanese army said it had arrested nine people from “both sides”.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea denied his followers were responsible, instead laying the blame with Hezbollah, who have refused to disarm since Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990.
“The main reason behind these events is the uncontrolled and widespread weapons that threaten citizens at all times and places,” he said.
Gunfire and the explosions of grenades raged for hours across the city before an uneasy calm descended as night fell.
President Michel Aoun said the violence was a “painful and unacceptable scene, regardless of the causes and culprits”.
He promised an investigation into the violence.
Mr Mikati declared Friday a day of mourning.
“Lebanon is going through a difficult phase,” said the prime minister. “We are like a patient in front of the emergency room. We have a lot of stages after that to complete recovery.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for all concerned to immediately halt acts of violence and refrain from provocative actions or inflammatory rhetoric.