At least five dead after Lebanon funeral ambush

Lebanese army are deployed in the area, after an ambush on mourners, in Khaldeh, yesterday.

At least five people including three Hezbollah members were killed south of Beirut yesterday when a funeral procession for a party member was ambushed, a Lebanese security source said.Several people were wounded in the exchange of fire in the Khalde area between members of the Lebanese group and other residents, the source said.The funeral was for a Hezbollah man killed the night before, the source added.Hezbollah in a statement appealed to the army and security forces to arrest those behind the “ambush”, which it said killed two people among the funeral procession.A military source said the army had deployed in force to the area and sent reinforcements.The army said in a statement that soldiers would “open fire on all armed men on the streets of Khalde” and in response to any other shootings.The state-run National News Agency said Hezbollah member Ali Shebli was killed at point-blank range at a wedding on Saturday night in Khalde, in an apparent revenge killing for the deaths of two people last year in the same area.Prime minister-designate Najib Mikati appealed for “restraint” and warned against confessional “discord”.