Why power-broker Hezbollah is still rocked by Beirut blast

For the veteran Hezbollah fighter, there was one silver lining – but only one – in the massive explosion at Beirut’s port that devastated swathes of the Lebanese capital Aug. 4.

Overnight, the price of an AK-47 assault rifle quadrupled from $200 to $800.

But for the mechanic-turned-gun dealer, that scrap of relatively good news is far outweighed by what the demand for weapons signals about spreading insecurity in Beirut, and the challenge now faced by Hezbollah amid popular demands to reform a corrupt and sectarian ruling system in which the Shiite movement has become deeply entwined.

“We are living in a very, very dangerous time. ... Everybody is buying a gun to protect his family,” says the Hezbollah fighter, a former unit commander in Syria who devoted his life to the Shiite “Party of God.” He survived multiple

Hezbollah’s warningNow part of the systemBlaming outsiders