Panic In Beirut As Israeli Warplanes Break Sound Barrier Thrice

Beirut, Lebanon: 

Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier three times over Beirut in less than 30 minutes on Tuesday, leading to loud booms that sent people in the city running for cover just ahead of a speech by the head of the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

Israeli warplanes flew low over the Lebanese capital, with witnesses saying they could see the planes with the naked eye. The booms were the loudest heard in Beirut in years.

One Reuters reporter saw people at a cafe in Beirut’s Badaro district scatter as the sound reverberated through the city.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was set to begin an address at around 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) to mark one week since the killing of the Lebanese armed group’s top military commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs.