Violence broke out between pro and anti-government students at Beirut Arab University's Commerce School Thursday. Eyewitnesses said at least four peopel were killed and 17 were injured.
According to Naharnet, the clash included students of the pro-government al-Mustaqbal movement, headed by parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, and members of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal movement and Hizbullah. Al Manar television said one of Hizbullah's supporters was killed.
Meanwhile, witnesses said Amal was sending reinforcements in mini busses from its stronghold in the district of Zokat Blatt to rescue their comrades besieged at BAU's soccer stadium in the Sunni District of Tarik Jedideh.
Lebanese soldiers moved into the BAU campus and opened fire in the air to disperse the crowd, a student told Naharnet. "The situation is very tense. Mustaqbal supporters are at the basketball stadium and Amal followers are at the soccer stadium. Both factions are separated by army troops," said the student.
Meanwhile, residents of Tarik Jedideh, which is a stronghold for the Mustaqbal movement, rushed to back their student comrades, the student reported.
Earlier, gunmen fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Lebanese forces as they deployed outside a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee, security officials said.
According to the AP, the soldiers fired back at the Jund al-Sham gunmen in an exchange that lasted about 10 minutes outside the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port of Sidon, the officials said. There was no word of casualties.
