Beirut (Washington Insider Magazine) -Six people so far have been confirmed dead after a protest, led by the Hezbollah, broke out in gunfire on Oct. 14 in Lebanon.
The militant group, which is the most powerful political party in the country, protested to remove the judge who was investigating a bomb going off in Beirut in 2020. The explosion killed over 200 people, left over 7,000 injured, and cost over $15 billion in property damage. The United States Geological Survey considered it one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history.
The protest was put together by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who accused Judge Tarek Bitar for questioning Hezbollah officials for causing the bombing in 2020 while no other political figures in Lebanon were called in for questioning.
While on their way to the Justice Palace to call for Bitar’s removal, the right-wing Christian Lebanese Forces took to the streets as well to counter protest the Hezbollah protestors. Their reasoning for the counter protest was because they felt it interfered with the investigation.
Not long after, a shooting started. It is unclear who shot first, but the gunfire lasted roughly four hours according to the Associated Press.
“[We] faced an armed aggression by groups from the Lebanese Forces party, which had spread out in nearby neighborhoods and on building rooftops, and started its direct sniping operations to purposefully kill,” a Hezbollah member said.
The CLF denied the allegations and said it started from Hezbollah s provocation. However, Marc Saad, the Lebanese Forces spokesman, told the Washington Post how the Lebanese Forces were out there because they refused to allow “the streets and their country to be violated by thugs and terrorists who come with [rocket-propelled grenades] now just to oppose a judge who is doing his simple job to make justice heard.”
The streets were evacuated and schools were closed as the gunfire between the two groups went on. The army showed up hours later to stop the attack, according to the AP.
