Child dies in sectarian firefight near Beirut
Hours of fighting in a town south of Beirut left at least two dead and several injured.
A child is among two dead after sectarian clashes erupted south of Beirut Thursday, the Lebanese news media reported.
The firefight in the town of Khaldeh reportedly broke out between local Sunni tribes and supporters of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in an area home to both Sunnis and Shiites. Officials told Reuters that supporters of the Iran-backed group hung religious banners commemorating Ashura, the day marking the martyrdom of Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
In a statement, the Lebanese army also said the raising of the poster sparked the fighting and confirmed that the two killed in the hours-long gunfight were a 13-year-old Lebanese Sunni boy and a Syrian citizen.
“The rest of those involved are being pursued," the army said in a statement, adding that four have already been arrested, including two Syrians.
