SIDON, Lebanon: Five people, including a Palestinian girl and a young Russian woman, were wounded in the southern city of Sidon in an armed clash overnight between supporters of Sheikh Ahmad Assir and members of the Popular Nasserite Organization.
Security sources told The Daily Star that two of the wounded were gunmen involved in the 70-minute gunfight in the Bab al-Serail Square of Sidon's old city. The other wounded were a Lebanese man identified as Toufik Baba, Palestinian teenager Rayyan al-Qayyem and a young Russian woman who was wounded by broken glass.
The sources said the gunfight broke out over an old dispute between the two sides.
Terrified diners fled Bab al-Serail Square after the clash erupted.
Police are in pursuit of the gunmen.
On Wednesday morning, Assir visited the site of the clash, calling on his men to "avoid getting dragged into any fight."