Day of mourning in Lebanon after deadly clashes

Heavy fighting claimed at least six lives and left dozens wounded in Lebanon's capital on Oct. 14 as an escalation of tensions around last year's massive portside explosion turned parts of Beirut into a war-zone.

The army deployed tanks and troops to quell street battles that sparked memories of the 1975-1990 civil war for a city already traumatised by last year's blast disaster and Lebanon's worst-ever economic crisis.

Bullets smashed into houses, while panicked civilians cowered indoors as the sound of gunfire and grenade blasts mixed with the wail of ambulance sirens for more than three hours.
The bloody unrest broke out after shots were fired at a demonstration by the Muslim Shiite Hezbollah and Amal movements.

The protesters were rallying against judge Tarek Bitar, tasked with investigating the massive explosion of poorly stored ammonium nitrate at Beirut's port that killed more than 210 people and destroyed swathes of the capital on August 4 last year.
The judge had in recent days been in the sights of Hezbollah and Amal after he subpoenaed top officials in his probe.
AFP correspondents said Thursday's violence started with sniper fire from residential buildings targeting the Hezbollah and Amal supporters, who returned fire with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
President Michel Aoun in a televised speech late Thursday called for calm.

"Weapons cannot return as a means of communication between Lebanese parties, because we all agreed to turn this dark page of our history," he said in reference to the civil war.
He said political leaders were "heading towards a solution" out of the crisis.

The army said it had responded to a clash and exchange of gunfire in the Tayouneh - Badaro...