Six dead in Beirut clashes over port explosion inquiry
GUNFIRE killed at least six people in Beirut yesterday, as the worst sectarian violence in years turned parts of the Lebanese capital into a battlefield, evoking memories of the country’s 15-year civil war.
The violence started when supporters of Shia militant group Hizbollah and an allied group came under apparent sniper fire after they gathered to demand the removal of the judge heading the investigation into last year’s devastating Beirut port blast.
Four chaotic hours of clashes ensued, during which gunmen fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGS) seemingly at random in residential areas around Tayouneh.
Saad Hariri, the former prime minister, said the violence brought back memories of the 1975-1990 conflict, calling it “unacceptable on all levels”.
Iran-backed Hizbollah and the Amal movement, its Shia ally, blamed the attack on the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party opposed to Hizbollah.
The Lebanese Forces denied the attack, condemned the violence, and accused Hizbollah of “incitement” against Tarek Bitar, the second judge to head the increasingly fraught probe into the explosion last summer that killed more than 200 people.
The violence highlighted deepening politicisation over the investigation and poses a fresh challenge to a government struggling to address one of the most severe economic collapses in history.
The army struggled to quell the clashes, despite warning that any gunmen in the street risked being shot.
Families cowered in their bathrooms as bullets ricocheted off blocks of flats, while soldiers evacuated terrified schoolchildren from classrooms.
Television channels broadcast live footage of a man being shot as he ran across a street carrying an RPG.
One woman was killed in her home by a stray bullet, a military source told Reuters, while about 30 people were reportedly wounded. Bassam Mawlawi, the interior minister, said all the dead were from one side, meaning Shias.
Amal and Hizbollah, which make up Lebanon’s two biggest Shia parties and the country’s most powerful military force, this week accused blast investigator Judge Bitar of bias after he ordered the arrest of several Shia leaders.
Among them is Hassan Khalil, a senior member of Amal, who Judge Bitar suspects of negligence over the improper storage of the ammonium nitrate that exploded at the port.
Mr Khalil said in response that the investigation threatened to push Lebanon “towards civil strife”, while Hizbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, called for Judge Bitar’s removal.
While a court reportedly dismissed a lawsuit yesterday requesting Judge Bitar’s replacement, the investigation seems destined to flounder in the wake of yesterday’s violence.