A bird’s eye view of the neighbourhood where the gunfight took place in Beirut.

Ten others were wounded in the late afternoon incident in the coastal town of Khalde after Hizbollah backers strung banners and flags on electricity poles to mark the religious event of Ashura, the source said.

"A firefight broke out between the two sides, leaving two dead and 10 wounded," said the source.

Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah urged followers to suspend the usual public display of grief due to a spike in novel coronavirus infections in the country.

He asked people instead to mark Ashura by hoisting black flags outside their homes and shops.

But the display of flags on the streets of Khalde angered some residents.

The army deployed in Khalde and arrested four suspects by the early evening, but shooting could still be heard intermittently in the area, local media said.

The situation in Lebanon has been exacerbated by the novel coronavirus pandemic and a monster blast earlier this month that ravaged Beirut's port and devastated swathes of the city.

Agencies