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Clashes between supporters of Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Saad Hariri, and Shiite groups Hezbollah and Amal erupted into gunfire in Beirut late on Monday, state news agency NNA reported.
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The clashes marked the second consecutive night of violence linked to Lebanon's political crisis, threatening to tip largely peaceful demonstrations directed at the country's ruling elite in a more bloody direction.
A video posted by Lebanese broadcaster LBCI showed heavy gunfire around Cola bridge in Beirut. The source of the gunfire was not immediately clear. No injuries were reported.
In the southern town of Tyre, supporters of Hezbollah and Amal tore up protest tents and set them on fire, prompting security forces to intervene and fire into the air, according to Lebanese media.
The protests that have swept Lebanon since Oct. 17 are fuelled by deep resentment for a ruling class seen as mired in corruption and having driven the economy into crisis.
Supporters of Amal and the heavily armed Hezbollah have occasionally sought to break up the demonstrations and clear roads cut off by protesters. They destroyed a main protest camp in central Beirut last month.
The groups were influential in the coalition government led by Hariri, who quit on Oct. 29 after the protests began. They had opposed Hariri's resignation.
