Melbourne man killed in Lebanon fighting

A Melbourne man visiting his parents in Lebanon has been killed in a brutal mob attack in the country's north, a friend of the man says.

Antoun Issa, a member of the Australian Lebanese Youth Association, said 41-year-old father of four Fadi Sheikh was killed in the Lebanese city of Halba on Saturday.

He had been visiting his parents for the first time in several years after emigrating to Australia with his wife in the 1990s, Mr Issa said on Monday.

The mob attack was part of fighting in Lebanon between Shi'ites loyal to the Lebanese opposition group Hezbollah and Druze supporters of the ruling coalition.

In the country's worst civil strife since the 1975-90 war, dozens have been killed and more injured.

Mr Sheikh, from Craigieburn in Melbourne's northern fringe, was in a coalition opposition office, used for providing the community with safety advice and information, when it was stormed by a pro-government mob, Mr Issa said.

He said the mob attacked everyone inside the building, including Mr Sheikh, who was not in Lebanon for any political reason.

"He just happened to be there in the wrong place at the wrong time when a mob of about 100 pro-government loyalists attacked," Mr Issa told AAP.

"It was quite brutal. Some people tried to escape and were hunted down and killed."

Mr Issa said he knew Mr Sheikh through family connections.

Mr Sheikh had been due to return home to Australia in two weeks.

Mr Issa said Mr Sheikh's wife was hysterical.

"Absolutely hysterical, she can't even speak," he said.

"She's mortified."

Mr Sheikh had not seen his parents for several years.

The couple had become Australian citizens, started their family here and had just finished building a family home, Mr Issa said.

He said the Sheikhs' four children were aged about three to 12 years old.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesman said Mr Sheikh's death underlined the highly dangerous situation in Lebanon and the need for Australians to continue to exercise extreme caution.

DFAT is seeking to provide consular assistance to the man's family in Melbourne.

The Australian Embassy in Beirut was liaising with local authorities regarding his death.