'Violence escalates': Protesters clash with police near Military Tribunal court in Beirut

Outside Military Tribunal Court in Beirut, Friday, violent confrontations ensued between the Lebanese protestors and the armed security forces, as the crowd assembled in tens of thousands, demanding the release of the jailed anti-government demonstrators in Tripoli. Roads surrounding the Military Tribunal Court remained blocked, and traffic was disrupted as protesters relocated to Martyrs’ Square, according to on-ground reports by state press. Police used lethal tactics, water cannons, and tear gas to disperse the mob, which entered its fourth month into the anti-establishment demonstrations amid deepening economic crisis due to the pandemic. Taking to the streets, citizens demanded the ouster of the sitting government as they ignored the police’s orders to disperse. 

Earlier, last week, Lebanon’s riot police arbitrarily arrested hundreds of anti-government protesters following intense deadly clashes in northern Lebanon. Lebanon’s army, meanwhile, in a statement warned that it detained scores of, what it described, rioters in the country’s northern city of Tripoli. The armed forces alleged that the rampant demonstrators set fire to several government buildings in Tripoli, leading to violent clashes with the police that left one person dead and more than 250 others wounded.

[Riot police fire rubber bullets against the anti-government protesters, during ongoing protests. Credit: AP]

[A protester throws back a tear gas canister towards riot policemen during a protest. Credit: AP]

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“Ten persons including a Syrian citizen were referred to military prosecutors over the attacks on state institutions including setting fire to the historic municipal building,” the Lebanese army later informed in a release, accessed by AP. Following the death, chaos, and injuries at the demonstration site, a Red Cross ambulance made it to the spot and reported 80 in critical condition, all of whom were rushed to nearby medical facilities. Medics, on-site, treated at least 140 others. 

Protesters yell 'won't pay the price'

Violence, that injured dozens, started after the mob hurled plant pots at police guarding the road leading to the parliament building, according to the visual evidence that emerged across social media. "We won't pay the price” chanting crowd charged the police line with metal barricades, stones, and traffic signposts, which led some in the security forces, to open fire. Condemning the shocking scenes, Lebanon's Interior Minister Raya El-Hassan said:  "I always asserted the right to protest, but for the protests to turn into a blatant assault on the security forces, on public and private property, is condemned and not acceptable at all.’ 

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