Residents of the West Bekaa town of Sawiri said on Tuesday that they agreed with the Mufti of the Bekaa, Khalil al-Mais, to hold the funerals of the victims of the al-Shouman family on Wednesday.
Earlier, the al-Shouman family issued a statement in which it said that it had full trust in the Lebanese judicial system, urging it “to give the killers their deserved punishment.”
The family said that it fled its home in order to spare the town further tension and strife and as a show of respect to the families of the victims.
Four citizens, two from al-Janbayn family and two from al-Shouman family, were killed on Sunday and 5 others were wounded when clashes renewed in the town on the backdrop of a personal dispute that erupted Saturday between the two families.
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr tasked the military police, LAF Intelligence Directorate and Criminal Evidence Department with launching investigations into the incidents.
"As a funeral was held for conscript Mohammed Janbayn, clashes renewed between the two parties while gunfire was heard and houses were torched, claiming the lives of Ahmad Janbayn and his brother identified as First Sergeant Khaled Janbayn, as well as Youssef Shouman and his son," the Army Command said in a statement.
It added that a number of soldiers were injured, noting that the army intervened, raided the shooters' houses, arrested eight persons and referred them to the concerned authorities.
In this context, caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour called former Prime Ministers Fouad Siniora and Saad Hariri, as well as Speaker Nabih Berri and the Lebanese Armed Forces Command, to discuss the situation and prevent the events from escalating and leading to strife.
Clashes erupted on Saturday between the two families on the backdrop of a personal dispute that evolved into an armed clash, killing conscript Mohammed Saeed Janbayn and leaving his brother Faraj seriously injured.