Hezbollah fighters overrun West Beirut and media HQ

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Red Cross officials said that at least 10 people were killed in the street battles that erupted yesterday after Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, called a government crackdown on his Iranian-backed Shia Muslim group a declaration of war.
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Nasrallah delivered his defiant speech on Thursday after the Government launched a probe into a private communications network run by Hezbollah, which is seen in the West as a terrorist outfit and which critics say has become a “state within a state".

“The decisions are tantamount to a declaration of war and the start of a war ... on behalf of the United States and Israel,” Mr Nasrallah charged. “The hand that touches the weapons of the resistance will be cut off."

The United States delivered a blunt warning to Hezbollah to stop its “disruptive activities” while UN Security Council members said that they were “deeply concerned” over the crisis.

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