Caretaker Minister of Defense Maurice Slim. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The press office of caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim issued a statement Thursday that the minister was doing well after a bullet hit his car.
According to the statement, the bullet hit the front left window of Slim's car as it was passing through the Jisr al-Basha area in Sin al-Fil, Beirut. Slim had left his office at the Defense Ministry.
The exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear. Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, the Lebanese Army was not immediately available to give further details. The Internal Security Forces (ISF) also said they have no further information.
"Neither the minister nor any of the accompanying soldiers were harmed," the statement added. "The military police and security services will conduct the necessary investigation and inspect the car and the scene of the accident, in coordination with the competent military judiciary."
Caretaker Interior Ministry told L'Orient-Le Jour that it was "awaiting the results of the investigations," while the caretaker Minister Bassam Mawlawi, told the daily An-Nahar that "what hit the Defense Minister's car was probably a stray bullet."
Slim could not be immediately reached for comment.
Slim's vehicle was struck when shots were fired in and around the southern suburbs of Beirut during the funeral for a Hezbollah fighter killed in a deadly incident in Kahale on Wednesday.