WORLD : 4 Beirut Children Shot in Homes

Sniper fire killed four children as rival Shiite Muslim militias battled for dominance in densely populated residential districts in West Beirut, police said today.

The four children were among 10 people killed and 20 wounded in the clashes that began Thursday and raged through the night, a police spokesman said.

One of the dead children, 7-year-old Hassan Hamdan, was shot in the head by a sniper as he switched on his bedroom light in the district of Mossaitbeh, a stronghold for the mainstream Shiite Amal militia. All of the children were shot in their homes, said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Amal and Hezbollah fighters battled in the rain all night despite three cease-fire accords called by a security committee composed of representatives of the principal militias in Lebanon.