Man Shot Dead in Khalde as Protesters Block Roads across Lebanon

By Staff, Agencies

A man was shot and killed Tuesday night after protesters attempted to block a main highway in Khaldehin south Beirut, Lebanon's state news agency said early Wednesday..

Alaa Abou Fakher, a member of the Choueifat Municipality and a Progressive Socialist Party supporter, was taken to the Kamal Joumblatt Hospital where he succumbed to gunshot wounds.

The victim "succumbed to his injuries" in hospital, according to the National News Agency, the second death in nearly a month of unprecedented protests that have erupted across Lebanon.

Local media reported that the driver of a Lebanese Army colonel was the suspect and that he had turned himself in.

The Army released a statement saying that the soldier who shot Abou Fakher had been arrested. The Army described what happened as a military vehicle passing through Khaldeh before a group of protesters blocked the road.

This led to a verbal argument and a scuffle with soldiers, "which forced one of the soldiers to shoot and disperse [the protesters." The Army said this led to one protester being wounded, and that the Army had opened an investigation into the incident.