BEIRUT: At least six Shias were shot dead in Beirut on Thursday, in an attack on protesters who were heading for a demonstration called by Hezbollah to demand the removal of the judge investigating the explosion that ripped through the city's port last year.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally, the Shia Amal Movement, accused the Lebanese Forces (LF), a Christian party that has close ties to Saudi Arabia, of mounting the attack, which took place on a frontline of the 1975-90 civil war.

Gunfire kills three, wounds 20 at Beirut protest

The shooting marks the worst civil violence in Beirut since 2008, and highlights a deepening crisis over the probe into the catastrophic August 2020 explosion that is undermining government efforts to tackle one of the most dramatic economic meltdowns in history.

LF leader Samir Geagea, whose group had a powerful militia in the war, condemned the shooting and said it was the result of uncontrolled weapons in society, saying civil peace must be preserved.