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On August 10, gunfire hit the car of Lebanon’s caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Sleem in the Jisr al-Basha neighborhood, to the east of the capital Beirut.
One of the car’s windows received a direct hit. However, the minister was not hurt. Initially, Lebanese media reports said that the incident was an assassination attempt.
Later, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi said that security services were investigating the incident to determine 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.
An unnamed security source told the Reuters news agency that the bullets were strays and denied there had been an attempt on Slim’s life.
The incident came as the Lebanese military was deployed in the Christian village of Kahale, which is located some 12 kilometers to the southeast of Beirut, following a clash between Hezbollah fighters and the supporters of an opposing right-wing party.
The clash broke out on August 9 after a truck carrying weapons for the powerful Shiite armed group overturned on a road cutting through Kahale. A member of Hezbollah and a resident of the village were killed in the shootout.
The recent incidents led to more tensions in crisis-struck Lebanon, which caused more fear among the people of a new civil war.