The Higher Defense Council convened on Monday for an emergency meeting at the presidential palace to discuss the deadly clashes that took place one day earlier in Aley.

In a statement issued following the meeting, the Council ordered that all the necessary measures be taken to restore stability, asking that an investigation be carried out swiftly to identify the shooters.

“The Higher Defense Council has taken strict decisions aiming to restore security to the area which witnessed the bloody events without any delay or leniency, as well as to apprehend all the perpetrators and refer them to the judiciary," the statement stressed.

The statement noted that President Michel Aoun outlined that freedom of belief, the right to difference, and freedom of opinion and expression are the three main pillars of the republic, instructing the judicial and security officials to take the necessary measures to contain the situation.

For his part, PM Saad Hariri urged calm, stressing the need to deal the issue politically, away from violence.