2 Dead, 4 Hurt as Army Clashes with Fugitives in al-Sharawneh

Two people were killed and four others were wounded on Saturday in a clash between army troops and fugitives in the Baalbek neighborhood of al-Sharawneh, state-run National News Agency reported.

“A woman was killed and five people were hurt as an exchange of gunfire erupted during an attempt by an army patrol to arrest the fugitive Hamza Ali Saadallah Zoaiter near al-Tatri Hospital in the Baalbek neighborhood of al-Sharawneh,” NNA said.

"The fugitive Hamza in addition to Ali Hasan Saadallah Zoaiter and the child Nouh Sadeq Zoaiter -- who were with him in the car -- were wounded in the clash," the agency added.

It said a passerby was also killed and two others were wounded in the gunfight.

“Tania Minni, 14, was killed and her body is still at the al-Tatri Hospital in Baalbek, while Samira Minni was seriously wounded in her head and transported to al-Abdallah Hospital in Riyaq,” NNA said, adding that the child Sami Minni was lightly injured in the incident.

Later on Saturday, the Army Command's Orientation Directorate issued a statement clarifying that “as an army checkpoint tried to stop a car carrying a number of gunmen in al-Sharawneh, those inside it opened fire on the checkpoint's members, who returned fire.”

Three gunmen and three civilian passersby were wounded in the incident, the statement said, adding that two of the bystanders later died of their wounds.

“The aforementioned gunmen were arrested and it turned out that two of them are wanted on arrest warrants, while the dead and the wounded were transported to hospitals in the region,” the statement added, noting that “military police launched a probe into the incident under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities.”