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| Defense Minister of Lebanon Image Credit: Google |
A Hezbollah member was killed in a shootout with residents in a Christian village in Lebanon on Thursday. The incident comes amid a political crisis in the country.
Lebanon's
Caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim's car was hit by bullets, but no one
was injured, according to the Lebanese officials.
The car was
traveling in the Jisr al-Basrah neighborhood on the southeast edge of the
capital Beirut on Thursday when two bullets hit one of its windows.
Interior
Minister Bassam Al-Malawi said that an investigation is ongoing into whether
the minister was targeted or whether the incident was the result of stray
bullets.
"In any case, we thank God for the defense minister's safety," the cleric said.
Deadly Shootout at Southeast of Beirut
It came as the
Lebanese army was deployed in a Christian village in the mountains southeast of
Beirut after a deadly shootout between residents and members of the Shiite
group Hezbollah.
Incident of Truck
About 10 army
vehicles were deployed around Kahlia on Thursday, a day after a truck driven by
Hezbollah members overturned at a sharp bend on a major highway connecting
Beirut to the Bekaa Valley and Syria.
Kahlia Mayor Abboud Abi Khalil said residents surrounded the truck on Wednesday evening and demanded to know what was inside, before Hezbollah members opened fire on it and killed it. Killed one of them.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said one of its
members was also shot and later died of his injuries.
Both Sides Have Accused Each other of Initiating the Firing
Ahmad Qassas, a
Hezbollah member killed in the violence, was given a military funeral on
Thursday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, his coffin draped in the yellow
Hezbollah flag.
"We will
not be dragged into conflict, and we will not be able to achieve the goals of
those who want to lead the country into conflict," Hezbollah's Syed Ali
Fahs said during the funeral.
The army
confirmed in a statement on Thursday that two people had been killed and said
ammunition had been seized from the truck.
"The
contents of the truck have been taken to a military base, and an investigation
has been initiated by competent judicial authorities," it added.
Lebanese Financial Collapse
Lebanon has been in the grip of a four-year-long financial collapse that has created the most instability since the 1975-1990 civil war.
This happened because of
decades of corruption and illegal spending by politicians.
Hezbollah is
the most powerful group in Lebanon. Its arsenal has long been a point of
contention in Lebanon, where its opponents accuse the group of undermining the
state.
(Courtesy: Al-Jazeera)
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