Lebanon: Firing in Bekaa’s mosque, one person killed and five injured; army deployed on the spot
Beirut, Reuters. One person was killed and five were injured during a shooting near a mosque in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley on Friday. A security source said, “Preliminary information indicates that it was a personal dispute that triggered the violence.”
All killed Syrian citizens
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the shooting took place at the Bar Elias mosque and that the army had rushed to the scene. It said the shooter was injured during his arrest by the army. A security official said the person killed and the five wounded were all Syrian citizens. The city is home to many Syrian refugees who fled their country’s 12-year conflict.
Lebanon is home to more than 1 million Syrian refugees and anti-Syrian sentiment has been on the rise since Lebanon’s economic downturn began in October 2019. The root cause of this decline is decades of corruption and mismanagement by the country’s ruling class. Three-quarters of the country’s 6 million people live in poverty.
