6 dead in Baalbek family feud on Eid morning

Six people were killed Tuesday during a fire exchange between two rival families in Khreeibeh village in Baalbek on the first day of Eid. Kanaan and Issa families had a long lasting dispute between them over a piece of land, which escalated into tragic proportions during the families' traditional visit to the graveyard on the morning of Eid Fitr. The families were both armed with different types of weapons and the fact they were at a graveyard did not seem to affect them by respecting the dead.  The Lebanese Army has had to warn the two families by firing in the air in an attempt to calm them down and end their fighting, as they moved their fight to the inner parts of the town and away from the graveyard, which started a shoot out and led to the death of Ghaleb, Mahmoud, Nasser and Rasha Kanaan, as well as a young child, Mahmoud Kanaan. Reports also said that one from Issa family got killed. Three of the bodies were transferred to the Riyaq Hospital and the other three to the Baalbek Government Hospital. A unit from the ISF conducted a series of raids in the village to arrest culprits in this dreadful incident, as a number of the armed family members managed to flee the town to the neighbouring fields and farms, security sources told Arabstoday. The Army released a statement on Tuesday morning saying that: "At 7am on Tuesday morning in Khreeibeh in Baalbek, a dispute between two families over land took place which led to a shoot out between them and the killing of 6 members and the injuring of others in both families. The Army then had to interfere and impose a security cordon around the area, as they are still in the process of trying to catch those responsible for the killings."