BEIRUT: Members of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah clashed in the early hours of Sunday in Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to police sources.
For unknown reasons, members from the Amal Movements’s headquarters on al-Tayyar street, Shiyyah, southern Beirut, got in an argument with members from Hezbollah at around 3 a.m., the sources said, adding that the dispute soon escalated into an armed confrontation with both sides resorting to the use of assault rifles.
Firing from both sides lasted about an hour, the sources said, and ended once the Lebanese Army intervened. The fighters withdrew from the area and the Lebanese Army has deployed troops in the area.
The NNA also reported the incident, but provided few details.
It is unclear if those involved were fighters or simply supporters of the two parties, as Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Mousawi was unable to confirm the incident through his contacts at his own party as well as at Amal.
It is not known whether there were any casualties in the incident. Meanwhile in Ain el-Rummaneh, a unidentified individual detonated a stun grenade near a church in the area.
Security sources said the man had placed the grenade between two vehicles, a Toyota and Mercedes, which were located some 70 meters from Our Lady of Salvation church. Only the two vehicles had been damaged by the blast, the sources added.