Two aides of Lebanese minister shot dead as convoy hit by gunfire - minister

Two bodyguards of a Lebanese Druze minister were killed on Sunday when his convoy came under fire as it passed through an area loyal to a rival Druze faction, in what the minister called an assassination attempt.

Saleh al-Gharib, Lebanon's minister of state for refugee affairs, is close to pro-Syrian Druze leader Talal Arslan. The area where the incident took place near Aley is loyal to anti-Damascus Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, whose Popular Progressive Party denied any involvement in the incident.

In an interview with Lebanon's al-Jadeed TV, Gharib said "what happened was an armed ambush and a clear assassination attempt".