Lebanon’s caretaker defense minister ‘safe’ after bullets hit vehicle
Lebanon’s interior minister has said the country’s caretaker defense minister Maurice Slim is safe after his car was targeted with bullets.
Gunfire hit Slim's car while it was traveling in the Jisr el-Bashra neighborhood in southeastern Beirut on Thursday afternoon, Reuters cited one security source and one political source as saying.
Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi said an investigation is underway to specify whether it was a targeted attack or the result of stray bullets.
"In any case, we thank God for the safety of the minister of defense," Mawlawi said.
Meanwhile, a separate security source told Reuters that the bullets were strays and denied that it was an assassination attempt.
Earlier in the day, Lebanese army troops were deployed in a Christian village in the mountains southeast of Beirut following a shooting attack on a truck belonging to Hezbollah resistance movement the previous evening. Nearly 10 army vehicles were deployed around the village of Kahaleh.
In a statement issued after the Wednesday attack, Hezbollah said the truck, transporting ammunition, overturned in the attack and unknown assailants attempted to seize the vehicle.
The statement said one Hezbollah member escorting the truck was killed.
Speaking during the funeral of Ahmed Qassas, Hezbollah cleric Sayyed Ali Fahs said, "We will not be dragged into strife, and we will not achieve the goals of those who want to take the country into strife."
Hezbollah and the army both said the ammunition was transferred to a military base.
Representatives of Hezbollah and the far-right Lebanese Forces (LF) political party, led by Samir Geagea, said the army has been leading efforts to calm the situation.
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