Heavy Gunfire during Funeral of Teen Killed in Khalde Clash

Gunshots were fired heavily in the air Friday during the funeral of a 14-year-old teenager killed in Thursday’s sectarian clashes in Khalde.

“During the firing in the air at the funeral, some gunshots were fired at the Chebli Center, the site of yesterday’s clash, as the army sought to contain the situation,” the National News Agency said.

NNA said the army was still staging patrols in the area and erecting surveillance checkpoints.

The heavy gunfire erupted as the body of the teenager, Hassan Zaher al-Ghosn, arrived at the al-Arab neighborhood, where leaders of Arab tribes and residents of the area performed a prayer for the dead at the town’s mosque.

The body was later laid to rest at the family’s cemetery in Khalde.

Ghosn and a Syrian man were killed and three members of the Ghosn family were injured during Thursday night’s clashes between supporters of Hizbullah and Sunni tribesmen in the area.

The clashes only stopped after the army sent major reinforcements and political contacts were held at the highest levels. The fighting briefly closed the main highway linking Beirut with southern Lebanon.

During Ghosn's funeral, anti-Hizbullah slogans were chanted as young men fired their weapons in the air.

The confrontation had reportedly erupted over the hanging of Ashoura religious banners.