Tensions over a probe into last year's massive blast in Beirut burst into the worst street violence in more than a decade on Thursday, with six Shiites shot dead and gun battles reviving memories of the country's 1975-90 civil war.
Bullets bounced off buildings and people ran for cover during bursts of gunfire that lasted several hours on what was once a frontline in the war. At one school, teachers instructed infant children to lie face down on the ground with their hands on their heads, a Reuters witness said.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally, the Shiite Amal Movement, accused the Lebanese Forces (LF), a Christian party that has close ties to Saudi Arabia, of attacking its supporters, who were gathering to demand the removal of the judge investigating last year's port blast.