Dozens Injured In Clashes With Police In 4th Night Of Unrest In Lebanon's Tripoli

TRIPOLI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2021) The Lebanese Red Cross said on Thursday it had treated some 40 injuries and transported three wounded to local hospitals in a fourth consecutive night of unrest in the northern city of Tripoli.

Video shared on social media showed an unconscious, bloodied teenager being rushed to an ambulance.

The Lebanese Internal Security Forces said a military grenade was thrown into Tripoli's City Hall, leaving one police officer injured. The municipal government building has become the flashpoint of tensions in the city's unrest as citizens direct anger at authorities for negligence and dire economic straits.

Protesters in Beirut, Saida and other population centers have gathered to show support for Tripoli.

Authorities have recently prolonged a near-total nationwide lockdown, which was initially scheduled to end on January 25, through February 8 over the increasingly dire coronavirus situation in the country. Lax restrictions over the holidays saw large gatherings and parties held with little regard to the pandemic, which almost immediately resulted in a spike in infections from around 2,000 daily new cases to as high as 6,000. This has overwhelmed the country's already feeble health care infrastructure.

Lebanon has been undergoing the most severe economic crisis in its modern history, with a bloated banking sector and endemic government corruption sending the Currency tumbling down 80 percent of its value against the US Dollar. Increasing poverty and unemployment have driven people to the streets, sparking a major opposition movement in October 2019, but although two governments have resigned, little has been done to address the root cause of the crisis.