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A cautious calm prevails in the Lebanese city of Tripoli after a bloody night, the fourth in a series of heated clashes between police and protesters over deteriorating living conditions, which worsened after the comprehensive closure imposed by the authorities to limit the spread of the Crown epidemic. .
Washington has expressed its support for the right of the Lebanese people to protest peacefully, but urges “all parties to refrain from acts of violence or provocation.”
The clashes, which resulted in dozens of casualties, were concentrated in Al-Nour Square and in front of the Serail building in the city of Tripoli, in the north of the country.
The Al-Hurra correspondent claimed that the security forces used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters, indicating that shots were heard during the clashes.
Dozens of injured
And the Lebanese Red Cross reported that more than a hundred people were injured, some of whom were taken to hospital for treatment.
Lebanese security forces said they were exposed to a barrage of Molotov cocktails, injuring one of their agents.
The clashes in Tripoli led to the burning of several buildings and government headquarters, especially the building of the city’s municipality.
A group of protesters stormed former Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Al-Azm educational complex, which includes a school and a vocational university.
The protesters also tried to storm the Finance Ministry building and several police stations, but the Lebanese army prevented it, according to our correspondent.
‘Significant reforms’
A spokesman for the US State Department told Al Hurra: “These protests underscore the need for political leaders in Lebanon to undertake meaningful reforms that respond to the Lebanese people’s desire for transparency, accountability and economic opportunity.”
Demonstrators have often demonstrated since the start of unprecedented popular demonstrations in the fall of 2019 against the political class, in which large crowds participated, in front of the houses of parliamentarians and ministers in Tripoli.
“Humiliated the city”
Omar Karhani, an unemployed father of six, indignantly told Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of his participation in the march: “We go to the houses of all politicians and ask that we burn all their houses while they burn our hearts.”
“This city has a port, an exhibition, an oil refinery and all the elements that the state does not own, and we are the poorest region (…) why?” He asked. He accused the leaders of Tripoli of “humiliating the city.”
The official National Information Agency said protesters moved from Abdul Hamid Karami Square to the headquarters of the Tripoli municipality and began throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at it, “causing a huge fire inside.”
For about two weeks, Lebanon has witnessed a strict general lockdown, with a 24-hour curfew that is among the strictest in the world, due to the Corona epidemic that has killed more than 2,500 people, but poverty exacerbated by a prolonged economic crisis pushes many to default, seeking to preserve their livelihoods.
Thursday’s protests in Tripoli are the fourth in a row the city has witnessed.
More than 300 people were injured in the clashes, most of them on Wednesday night.
The Internal Security Forces reported that among the wounded were 41 soldiers and officers from their ranks, and indicated that 12 of them were injured by grenade launches, and among them, serious injuries.
On Thursday, a young man died from his injuries during nightly clashes, sparking widespread anger in the city and resentment against its leaders, including the prime minister and former ministers who top the country’s rich list.
Neglecting the needs of the people of Tripoli
Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into Thursday’s death. “The government neglected the needs of the people of Tripoli and used brute force when they demanded a better life,” said the organization’s researcher Aya Majzoub.
And he reused real weapons in front of the protesters, the controversy over the export of arms to Lebanon.
On Thursday, Amnesty International urged Paris to suspend the export of police weapons to Beirut unless it agrees to use them in accordance with international law, noting that Lebanese security services have used French-made weapons to suppress peaceful protesters. .
According to 2015 United Nations estimates, only 26 percent of Tripoli’s population suffers from extreme poverty and 57 percent live at or below the poverty line. However, these percentages probably increased as many lost their jobs or part of their income due to the worst economic collapse in Lebanon’s history.
