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Six Shi'ites were shot dead in Beirut on Thursday, in an attack on supporters of Hezbollah and an allied Lebanese party who were gathering to demand the removal of the judge investigating last year's devastating port blast.
The shooting, which took place on a frontline of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war and evoked scenes reminiscent of the conflict, marks the deadliest civil violence in Beirut since 2008.
It also highlights a deepening crisis over the probe into the August 2020 explosion that is undermining government efforts to tackle one of the most dramatic economic meltdowns in its history.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally, the Shi'ite Amal Movement, accused the Lebanese Forces (LF), a Christian party that has close ties to Saudi Arabia, of mounting the attack.
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said snipers had opened fire and aimed at people's heads.
The LF denied any involvement and condemned the violence, which it blamed on Hezbollah "incitement" against Judge Tarek Bitar, the lead investigator into the port blast, which killed 200 people, wounded thousands and devastated swathes of Beirut.
Coming after repeated warnings from Hezbollah and its allies that continuing Bitar's probe would split the country, the violence may create a pretext to shut down or shelve further investigation into the explosion.
President Michel Aoun vowed that those responsible for Thursday's gunfire would be held accountable, saying in a televised speech it was "unacceptable that weapons are once more the means of communication among Lebanese rivals."
Ex-prime minister Saad al-Hariri said the violence was reminiscent of the civil war and "unacceptable on all levels."
LF leader Samir Geagea, whose group had a powerful militia in the war, said earlier that the shooting was the result of uncontrolled weapons in society, saying civil peace must be preserved.
During the attack, local television stations broadcast footage of bullets bouncing off buildings and people running for cover. One of the dead was a woman who was struck by a bullet while in her home, a military source said.
At a nearby school, teachers instructed infant children to lie face down on the ground with their hands on their heads, a Reuters witness said. A lifeless body was dragged from the street by bystanders in footage broadcast by al-Jadeed TV.
The army said in a statement the gunfire had targeted protesters as they passed through the Teyouneh traffic circle located in an area dividing Christian and Shi'ite Muslim neighborhoods.
The shooting began from the Christian neighborhood of Ain el-Remmaneh, from where the civil war was set off, before spiraling into an exchange of fire, a military source said.
Interior Minister Mawlawi said all the dead were from one side, meaning Shi'ites.
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement said groups had fired at protesters from rooftops, aiming at their heads in an attack they said aimed to drag Lebanon into conflict.
As Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for calm, the army deployed heavily in the area around Teyouneh and said it would open fire against any armed person on the road.
（CGTN）
