BEIRUT: Lebanon was plunged into political turmoil on Thursday after Hezbollah toppled the government over a long-running dispute linked to a United Nations (UN) probe into the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri.

The hard-won unity government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri—son of the slain leader—collapsed on Wednesday after months of wrang­ling between the premier and Hezbollah over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.