At least one person was killed and five were injured in a shooting at a mosque during prayers in Lebanon on Friday.

The official news agency quoted a security official as saying, “The incident took place in the eastern town of Bar Elias in Lebanon, the reason for which was not immediately known.”

It has been reported that ‘there was further exchange of fire between the Lebanese forces and the gunman in which the alleged assailant was wounded’.

A security official said on condition of anonymity that ‘all those killed and injured in the firing were Syrian citizens. The place where the incident took place is home to a large number of Syrian refugees who came here during the 12-year civil war.

Remember that there are more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Anti-Syrian sentiment has been on the rise since Lebanon’s economic situation worsened in October 2019.

Corruption and bad governance are being attributed to the economic situation.

Three quarters of Lebanon’s 6 million people live in poverty.