Lebanon: Why were Hezbollah fighters escorting the truck that overturned near Beirut?

The Lebanese army on Thursday moved the truck that overturned near Beirut late on Wednesday after the incident resulted in deadly clashes that killed two people.

The truck overturned on a mountain road near the Lebanese capital in the Christian town of Kahaleh on the highway that links Beirut to the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Lebanese troops immediately cordoned off the truck filled with large boxes, which residents suspected belonged to the Iran-backed militant group.

The Lebanese army confirmed that the truck held munitions, but its brief statement did not say what the munitions were or who owned them. It did not mention Hezbollah and said an investigation is ongoing over the clashes.

However, Hezbollah said in its statement that the truck belonged to them without saying whether it had weapons inside it.

It said local gunmen attacked people in the truck, leading to an exchange of fire that fatally wounded one Hezbollah member "who was protecting the truck".

Meanwhile, Kahaleh residents in a statement said one resident was killed when armed men opened fire, but did not include any details.

Residents tried to stop the army from taking the truck before seeing what was inside it and occasionally scuffled with troops.

The army brought in a crane to move the boxes into an army truck that drove in the direction of Beirut, reportedly heading to the Defense Ministry just a few kilometres (miles) away.

The army closed the road until they were able to transport the truck at dawn.