2 dead as Hezbollah clashes with Kahale residents after arms truck overturns

A Hezbollah arms truck flipped over Wednesday on the Kahale road after which a deadly clash with residents erupted, media reports said.

TV networks said Hezbollah members opened fire in the area, killing a Kahale resident and wounding another person. One Hezbollah member was also killed in the incidents according to reports.

The army was meanwhile trying to contain the situation in the area after the withdrawal of Hezbollah’s members, amid an attempt by residents to prevent the removal of the truck.

Kahale mayor Abdo Abi Khalil said residents of the town surrounded the truck demanding to know what was inside.

Hezbollah members escorting the truck opened fire at the residents to keep them at bay, killing one person, Abi Khalil said.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that one of its members was wounded during the incident and later died of his injuries.

"A number of armed men from the militias present in the area gathered and attacked" those escorting the truck, read the statement.

"They began by throwing rocks, and then opened fire," it said.

A statement issued by the Aley department of the Lebanese Forces party meanwhile said that Kahaleh resident Fadi Youssef Bejjani was killed by gunfire as he was trying to rescue the truck's driver, calling on the army and security forces to arrest the shooters, confiscate the truck, conduct the necessary investigations and prevent "militia-like" practices.

A statement by residents of Kahale, read on local television, said the townspeople would seal off the road, which runs from Beirut to Damascus, until authorities disclose the contents of the truck.

“The truck belongs to Hezbollah and we don’t know what’s in it and we have left things to the Lebanese Army to control the situation,” sources close to Hezbollah told al-Jadeed TV.

“The army will erect additional checkpoints to control the situation in Kahale and remove the truck’s cargo,” the sources added.

Kahale’s municipal police chief meanwhile told MTV that the town’s residents will not allow the removal of the truck. “We lost a young man who fell dead on the church’s stairs after they opened fire on us,” he added.

“Several buildings in Kahale came under gunfire and the army is continuing to prevent residents from approaching the truck,” MTV reported.

“Security officials received phone calls from Hezbollah officials who asked them not to intervene in what’s happening in Kahale,” the TV network added.