Eight dead in army shootout at Lebanese nightclub

Eight people including two soldiers were killed in a dawn shootout on Monday outside a nightclub north of Beirut, the Lebanese army said.

The army said that they conducted the raid at the White Night Club in the city of Jounieh to arrest fugitives involved in drug-dealing.

According to the army statement, two men who were identified as Mehdi Hussein Zeaiter and Ahmad Ali Ammar fired on an army patrol that was pursuing them outside the nightclub.

The result led to the deaths of two soldiers, the statement said.

Intelligence officers with the anti-drug department were conducting the raid when one of the men opened fire, killing two soldiers.

“The patrolling officers returned fire and clashes broke out, resulting in the deaths of Zeaiter and Ahmad Ali Ammar, and four civilians who were also with them,” the army said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said two young women were among the dead, and that the military police would investigate the incident.

According to the Associated Press news agency, the Zeaiter family is known in Lebanon for its alleged involvement in drug dealing.

Zeaiter and Ammar had a total of 11 search warrants and six arrest warrants in their name, the army statement said, without going into further details.

Sakr Sakr, the military prosecutor, opened an investigation to determine the full circumstances of the incident.

While shootouts occasionally break out between security forces and fugitives in Lebanon’s north and the eastern Bekaa valley, such violence is rare in the capital and the surrounding area.