Lebanon arrests more people following bloody Beirut events

Lebanon has detained 19 people in relation to recent gunfire in Beirut, state National News Agency has reported.

Security officials stated authorities detained 17 Lebanese and two Syrians for questioning over Thursday’s firefight.

Lebanon on Friday mourned seven people killed in gunbattles on the streets of Beirut the previous day, a confrontation that erupted over a long-running probe into last year’s massive port blast in the city and raised fears of the country being drawn into further violence.

Schools, banks and government offices across Lebanon shut down for a day of mourning Friday, while funerals were held in several parts of the country.

Thursday’s clashes saw gunmen battling each other for several hours with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in the streets of Beirut.

It was the most violent confrontation in the city in years, echoing the nation’s darkest era of the 1975-90 civil war.

The fight raised the specter of a return to sectarian violence in a country already struggling through one of the world’s worst economic crises of the past 150 years.

The violence broke out at a protest organised by Hezbollah and Amal which called for the removal of the lead judge investigating last year’s massive explosion at Beirut port.

Officials from both parties have suggested the judge’s investigation is heading toward holding them responsible for the blast, which killed at least 215 people.