Heavy gunfire in vicinity of Beirut's Justice Palace, at least 3 killed

CAIRO - 14 October 2021: Heavy gunfire took place at protests in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing at least least three people and wounding several others.

The protests called for the removal of a judge in charge of a probe case on the deadly port blast in August last year.

Heavy gunfire was heard in Beirut on Thursday in the vicinity of Beirut's Justice Palace, leaving behind a number of people injured.

This coincided with protests in front of the palace to call for keeping Tarek Bitar - the judge in charge of investigating last year's Beirut port explosion - away from the case on the back of criticism levelled against him by leaderships of Amal and Hezbollah movements.

The Shiite movements of Amal and Hezbollah accused Bitar of politicizing the Beirut blast investigations.

The region is witnessing a state of tension over fears of escalation in the situation. 

MENA contributed to the reporting.