Beirut : Lebanon on Friday held a day of mourning after six people died and dozens were hurt in some of the worst violence for years in the capital, Beirut.
Gunfire broke out on Thursday during a protest by Shia Muslim groups against the judge investigating last year’s huge blast at the city’s port.
Hezbollah, which organised the protest, says demonstrators were fired on by gunmen on rooftops.
They blamed a Christian faction, although the group denies the charge.
Huge tension surrounds the inquiry into the port explosion that killed 219 in August 2020.
Swathes of the city were devastated by the blast, but no-one has yet been held accountable.
Hezbollah and its allies say the investigating judge is biased, but the victims’ families support his work.
What began as a protest outside the Palace of Justice – the main court building – by hundreds of people arguing the investigation had become politicised and demanding the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar quickly escalated.
Heavy gunfire erupted in the streets as the crowd passed through a roundabout in the central Tayouneh-Badaro area.
Local residents had to flee their homes and schoolchildren ducked for cover under their desks as men armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers – believed to have been members of Shia and Christian militias – exchanged fire in the streets.
