The Shiite movements Hezbollah and Amal were demonstrating to demand the dismissal of the judge in charge of the investigation into the explosion at the port of the Lebanese capital, when shots were fired. Six people were killed and around thirty others injured, Thursday, October 14, during a demonstration in Beirut, according to the Minister of the Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, and the Lebanese Red Cross.
Among the victims were a man killed by a bullet in the head, a second shot in the chest and a 24-year-old woman, who was killed by a stray bullet while she was at home, according to medical sources at the ‘AFP.
Heavy gunfire and explosions echoed not far from the courthouse, in front of which had gathered hundreds of demonstrators dressed in black, while AFP correspondents saw men carrying small and medium weapons. Ambulances, screaming sirens, flocked to evacuate the victims in the deserted streets, the inhabitants having taken refuge in their apartments and reliving scenes of war that they thought had been forgotten.
#Lebanon (9) the shots fired at the demonstrators are now clashes #Beyrouth, full gear in the streets pic.twitter.com/kbn3zXofCz
– Wassim Nasr (@SimNasr) October 14, 2021
Army tanks were deployed in the neighborhood, sealing off access, and the troops warned that they would shoot point blank at anyone who opened fire.
On social media, images showed schoolchildren from an area establishment hiding under their desks or gathered on the floor in front of classrooms.
In a school in the Furn el-Chebbak district in #Beyrouth, the pupils hide and protect themselves as best they can from the gunshots and anti-tank rockets they hear outside.
1 / pic.twitter.com/OYzRJeB1S6– Claude El Khal (@claudeelkhal) October 14, 2021
Prime Minister Nagib Mikati called for a return to calm and warned against attempts to drag Lebanon into a cycle of violence.
The demonstration brought together hundreds of demonstrators who came to demand the departure of judge Tarek Bitar, at the heart of a smear campaign in recent days. After complaints from former ministers, he was forced on Tuesday to suspend his investigation, causing a serious crisis in the Lebanese government formed last month. The Court of Cassation had just rejected these complaints on Thursday, allowing Tarek Bitar to resume his investigations.
The explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, left at least 214 dead, more than 6,500 injured and devastated several districts of the capital.